Hundreds take waka hourua journey

Navigating a waka hourua (double-hull canoe) across the Pacific Ocean can be a saturating experience.

But not for visitors to the Tuia Matauranga roadshow in Dunedin yesterday.

Through the magic of virtual reality headsets, hundreds of people were able to take the voyage in an expandable trailer, which remained stationary in the car park next to Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.

It was one of many activities at the roadshow, run by the Ministry of Education, which celebrated the expertise and knowledge of Pacific voyagers and navigators, and explored relationships between sea, land and people.

Using virtual reality, Sheryl Boulter, of Dunedin, takes a trip on a waka hourua as part of the Tuia Matauranga roadshow in Dunedin yesterday. She is supported by roadshow team member Kenny Hau. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON

It also looked into the changes in those relationships following the arrival of Europeans, identified the richness of diversity today and invited participants to share their views on how our future might look.

Ministry programme manager Thalia Hargreaves said the roadshow was part of commemorations of New Zealand’s 250th anniversary of the first onshore encounters between Maori and non-Maori, and the feats of Pacific navigators and explorers who reached and settled in New Zealand many years earlier.