The epic story of the first great migratory journey to Aotearoa

A visit to Voyager begins by retracing the steps of the first human settlers to sail to New Zealand.  “Te Waka: Our great journey” is a ten minute fully animated film which retells the mighty story of the arrival of the first migratory voyage to Aotearoa some 1,000 years ago.  This epic adventure overcame monumental challenges to set the tone for New Zealand’s pioneering future.

The immediately previous homeland of the Maori was in the small tropical islands of Central Polynesia.  Their ancestry can be traced back to the people who lived in the Bismarck Archipelago over 3,000 years ago.  New Zealand was the final landfall in the Polynesians’ deliberate voyages of explorations and settlement.  November-December, when wind patterns favoured the difficult return voyage, was the best time of year to undertake the journey.

Te Waka is introduced by the late Sir Tom Davis, former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, and renowned designer and navigator of traditional voyaging canoes; and the late Sir Hugh Kawharu, former Chief of Ngati Whatua tribe, and former professor of Maori Studies at the University of Auckland.

Te Waka plays every 15 minutes throughout the day.