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| Te Matau a Maui |
By dint of being quick on the return button I sent off an email which secured me a spot on Te Matau a Maui, or Fish hook of Maui, a wonderful double hulled waka that was visiting Wellington It is normally based in Napier and has travelled around the world. It was in Wellington to help celebrate Matariki, the Maori New Year. Matariki is the name of the group of stars that appear at this time of year and is known also as the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades.
The weather was beautiful and there was enough wind for us to unfurl the sails and head into the harbour. My job was to help with the large sail at the front, unwinding and winding up ropes to hoist it up and change its position to catch the wind.
I chose to stay up at the front and soak up the experience. We managed to get as far as the Mirimar Peninsular before we had to turn and head for home.
What an amazing day!!
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| A perfect day for a sail in a double hulled waka |
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| A modern waka has solar panels |
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| Coming in to berth |
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| A hand held rudder was at the back |
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| Heading out into the harbour |
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| The Tino Rangatiratanga flag was flying. |
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| The 'crew' were all given jobs |
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| Maori design on the sail |
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| Heading back into Wellington |
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| The cooking cabin on top of the deck |
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| Maori carving at the base of the mast |
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| The sleeping quarters were in the hulls - eight bunks and storage per hull |
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| Symbolic stones by the main mast. The one in the basket is pounamu or greenstone |
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| Coming back in to berth at Te Papa Museum |
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