ARL Staff Blog

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Written by ARLtastic!

Māori discovered Aotearoa because they went out looking for it, and it wasn’t the warrior tradition that got Māori here – it was their technology, innovation, and vision. The Land of Voyagers website retraces this history via easily digestable video clips, interviewing scientists, navigators and crew and also capturing life aboard the va'a tipaerua 'Fa’afaite' - as it sailed from Tahiti to Aotearoa and joined both Māori waka hourua and European tall ships to circumnavigate the country and commemorate Captain Cook's arrival on these shores 250 years ago. More videos are added each week, some aboard the vessels in the flotilla, and some covering related topics such as navigating by the stars, the untold story of Pacific migration, and much more.

Land of Voyagers is the brainchild of ARL Managing Director Ian Taylor (Ngāti Kahungunu), who hopes it will be shared with all the rangatahi (youth) of Aotearoa and Pasifika. Ian also had ARL's 3D Tracker (originally used for the Volvo Ocean Race) rebuilt to track the 'Fa’afaite' and all the other vessels in the 'Tuia 250' flotilla as they journeyed to, arrived and then sailed around Aotearoa. The Tracker is an integral feature of Land of Voyagers.