Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia crews make safe landfall in Aotearoa

After 17 days and more than 1,600 nautical miles of open-ocean voyaging, traditional double-hulled voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia made safe landfall Friday morning at Aotearoa’s Bay of Islands. The arrival marks the successful completion of Leg 15 of the Moananuiākea Voyage, a multi-year circumnavigation of the Pacific.

Because the canoes have arrived about a week ahead of the scheduled welcoming events and celebrations in Waitangi, Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia and their crews will be under kapu until November 14. During this sacred period, the crews will quietly spend time in reflection, rest, and preparation for the official welcoming ceremonies and cultural protocols that will take place when they are formally received by the Tangata Whenua (Māori people of the land).  The crew will be hosted by Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae and Te Tai Tokerau communities.

The safe arrival into Aotearoa was especially gratifying for the crew since this deep sea journey from the Cook Islands to Aotearoa tested both skill and spirit. Navigating without modern instruments, the voyagers encountered multiple weather challenges including lightning storms, heavy cloud cover that obscured the stars, and the cold of southern latitudes. 

Upon completion of the kapu period, the canoes and crews will take part in a series of events in Waitangi, Auckland and Aurere.  

Over the course of the next week, the crew will be preparing spiritually and emotionally for the extraordinary series of ceremonies taking place at Waitangi from Nov. 14 to 16. 

This leg of the Moananuiākea Voyage reconnects the ancestral sea road between the Cook Island and Aotearoa, a route first voyaged by Hōkūleʻa 40 years ago in 1985.

Upcoming public events in Aotearoa

Waitangi

• Friday, Nov. 14 – The canoes will arrive at Te Tii Bay followed by a pōwhiri, a formal, sacred Māori welcoming ceremony at Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae from 3 to 6 p.m. 
• Saturday, Nov. 15 – At dawn, a ceremony will be held to unveil a special carving representing Ngāti Ruawāhia, and a 40th Tribute ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. honoring Sir James Henare, Sir Hector Busby and Hawaiian leader Myron Pinky Thompson, Nainoa Thompson’s father who served as PVS president for about two decades. 
• Sunday, Nov. 16 – The canoes will remain at Te Tii Bay through a series of events hosted by Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae, with community support and in collaboration with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Kamehameha Schools. Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia will then depart for Auckland.

Auckland

• Tuesday, Nov. 18 –  Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia arrive in Waitematā Harbor and are formally welcomed by the Ngāti Whātua Orākei tribe.
• Wednesday, Nov. 19 –  PVS CEO Nainoa Thompson is scheduled to deliver a presentation at the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education (WIPCE) about the 40-year voyaging relationship that has flourished between Hawaiʻi and Aotearoa.  
• TBD – Public engagements and dockside canoe tours may take place in the vicinity of the New Zealand Maritime Museum.

Aurere:

• Saturday, Nov. 22 (1-4:30 p.m.) – Tauhere, Sir Hek Busby Kupe Waka Centre, 4554 State Highway 10, Lake Ohia, Doubtless Bay.  Weather-permitting on Nov. 19, the canoes will sail north from Auckland for Aurere, the homeland of the late Māori Pwo Navigator and waka builder Sir Hector Busby, where the crew will honor his leadership and role in reviving Māori voyaging. The event will include an afternoon of family fun, Kaupapa Waka, and Hawaiian culture featuring Te Tai Tokerau Tārai Waka, crew of Hōkūleʻan and Hikianalia, and the students and staff of Kamehameha Schools.

Following their New Zealand engagements, the canoes will enter dry dock for maintenance and remain in Aotearoa for approximately six months to wait out the South Pacific hurricane season before continuing their journey through the Pacific in 2026.