Tauranga residents have the opportunity to learn more about the voyaging waka when Frank Kawa talks of his experiences and the role of the canoe in the modern day seas.
Frank Kawa captained one of the seven vaka moana – traditional ocean going canoes – that travelled more than 20,000 nautical miles from New Zealand to the west coast of the United States in 2011.
'The seven canoes represented different islands throughout the Pacific,” says the experienced sea voyager.
It was a pretty long journey. Frank says it took the team 18 months to complete the voyage.
'The journey itself was about 18 months and we took a couple of breaks, and there were different legs; so roughly five or six months to make it up to the United States, we had a break then sailed back through the islands.”
Frank Kawa enjoyed the voyage.
And why? 'There were a few reasons. One of them was to help in the continuation of the training and learning of different aspects of voyaging; then there was also a big component of bringing awareness around problems relating to the ocean, particularly pollution.”
'So that was a big part, the message coming from the people of the Pacific so to speak, and taking that message out to the modern world; in this case the modern world was up to the United States.”
Frank will speak about the role of the mighty voyaging canoes play in the 21st Century at Tauranga City Council chambers on June 22 from 5.45pm, as part of the Matariki Festival running this month and into July.
'I'll be giving a presentation about the recent resurgence in traditional and ocean voyaging around Polynesia; and when I say recent I'm talking in the last 40 years or so, as prior to that there was really nothing in mainstream Polynesia,” says Frank.
'I'll be bringing it up to where we are right now, and the growth that's been seen. We've got to the point where we have two voyaging canoes based in Tauranga.
'In the story, in the dialogue, it's just finishing up with where we are at the moment, this is where we've progressed to in the last few years, continually looking to the future as well.”
For more information, visit www.mymatariki.co.nz