Te Aurere Voyaging - max 71 characters

October-November 2000

Kaupapa of the Voyage –To sail Te Aurere to the 8th South Pacific Arts Festival in Noumia, New Caledonia.

Ports of Call - Mangonui(Aotearoa) - Kuto (Isle of Pines, New Caledonia) -Cascade Bay(Norfolk Island) - Mangonui(Aotearoa)

Crew - Captain, Navigator: Hekenukumai Busby. Watch Captain, Navigator: Piripi Evans, Deno Wahapu. Crew: David Nauer, Wiremu Tuhura, Anaru Reedy, Tomika Whiu, Ray Heanre, Lance Smith, Robert Gable, Robert Busby, Wati Forbes

Te Haerenga

Organisation for the journey: Much of the organisation was done by Hector, Piripi, Wiremu and Mike. We still had a lot of work to complete before Te Aurere was ready to get Category One Clearance to sail. The MSA officer in charge of the inspection was not easy to work with, because of that he delayed our departure by a number of days. He checked every little detail, he thought we had to reinforce some areas of Te Aurere which was a laugh but Hector did it just to get him to sign our clearance to sail.

We left Mangonui during the day of the 12 October with a lot of building gong on and finishing work as we sailed. We were meant to join up with the waka hourua Te Au o Tonga from Rarotonga at one of the bays in Norfolk Island but we were delayed too long, they carried on to be in time for the opening ceremony, but we would miss it.

First leg of the journey: Piripi and Deno divided the crew into two watches as soon as we set sail. This part of the voyage from Mangonui to Isle of Pines was the toughest. It took us approximately 12 days. Day in day out no let up. The course line that Hector had given us was to head due north to the Tropic of Capricon, then head west to Noumia.

We were becalmed once during this phase of the journey so we all decided to have a swim in 2,500 meters plus of ocean which the crew loved. When we changed course and headed west for Noumia, we came upon a pod of magnificent whales. There were about seven whales, some with calves, the big bull came over to check us out then they all vanished.

A special tribute must be paid to the whole crew for their guts and tenacity throughout this phase of the journey. Not once did any of the crew not report for watch duty, nor did I hear any of them complain for any reasons.

We had complete faith in Hectors ability to navigate. All of us had sailed with him many times before, and no matter what the conditions, he calmly went about his work making sure that we were on course. It was this phase of the journey that both Deno and Piripi deserve special mention with regard to the way they supported Hector. Also Wiremu, not only did he do his share of the mahi on board but he somehow managed to make sure that we also had three meals a day.

New Caledonia: On arrival at the south west tip of New Caledonia, we were hit by some pretty nasty weather and had difficulty tacking towards the entrance to Noumia. Our first attempt failed and we were driven back south were we put out a drogue and waited till morning to have another go. We got to within a few kilometres of the entrance but the wind changed to nor west and we were dangerously close to the reef, so Hector gave the order for us to head back south, it was too dangerous to continue.

In the morning we noticed the wind was on our port side and driving us towards the Isle of Pines. We had run out of petrol and needed some for our motor to help us get through the reef. Having made contact with Noumia and Elizabeth. They were able to organise the French air force to drop some in for us and we were off to the Isle of Pines. That petrol drop was quite spectacular, especially the frog men who were just awesome. In the meantime the Jandames French Police had arrived and escorted us through the reef to our mooring in the main port of Kuto.

This port was open to westerly winds and there were better places to anchor, so two days into our stay we moved around to Kanumera bay and put Te Aurere up on blocks, we had to beach her to look at a crack below the water line so that it could be patched.

We therefore didn’t end up making it to Noumea. Hector flew over to the closing ceremony but came back the same day, we just had a great time among the Kuni people for five days.

The manakitanga of the Kuni towards us was just so kind and generous, they fed us three cooked meals a day for the five days we were on the island, something that I will always treasure in my heart. They had constructed a kaauta, a cooking and dining facility for us, and that was just great. Montine Morar, a French lady living on the island teaching English vacated her flat for some of us to live in while we were there. The crew were invited to sail on their outrigger single sailing waka and those that went really enjoyed themselves.

By this time Robbie and Robert had joined our crew to sail with us on the next leg of our journey to Norfolk Island, when we left on the sixth day a couple of the Kuni people jumped on board with us to show us through the reef. I don’t know how many speed boats followed us out but it was an impressive sight. When we had sailed well out to sea they picked up their kinsmen on board Te Aurere and bid us farewell. We again organised our shifts, Hector gave the order to head east of south, our target was Norfolk Island.

This leg of the voyage was just as tough as the first leg but not as long. It took approximately 6 days as the winds kept hammering at us from south west. But we stuck at it, and eventually Hector had navigated us to just 15 nautical miles to the south east of the island, we planned to come in to Cascade bay in the morning.

Norfolk Island: The Hospitality of the Norfolk Island people was just another amazing experience. The Norfolk Island people looked after us for the five days that we were on the island. Most of us were billeted out at different houses, and each host had a party organised for us and that was heaps of fun. My hosts were Ken and Margaret Christian, and I have kept in contact with them ever since. We have become very good friends, and over the years they have visited us in New Zealand and we have done the same. Greg and Kim looked after many of the other crew, and during the recent Te Aurere voyage in 2007, they were just awesome again. Piripi left the voyage at this stage and Wattie joined.

Headed for Home sweet home: This leg of the journey was again very tough and took us approximately 5 and a half days to complete, the winds were not in our favour. By this time the crew were getting tired and rightly so, out of the 31 days we were away, 21 were spent at sea. We hammered south taking to port then to starboard for days. Twice I think as we got nearer the tip of the North Island, Hector called all hands and we took down the rigging. The weather wasn’t nice at all, you could tell each time a front was going to hit as a black wall just like a taniwha came at us. Eventually we sighted the North Cape. And there was an almighty yell from the crew. Next thing a huge wave reared up in front of us and gave us a real welcome home smashing all over the deck. Then it was all quiet, the wind was coming in from north of east and we put up our sails and sailed into Doubtless Bay and anchored till morning.

We waited for the customs to come out to us and saw Mike onboard. Once we were cleared we set sail again with Mike onboard, and headed into Mangonui. We could see smoke from a huge fire that the boys had lit to mark our home coming and that was just great.

Powhiri home: One cannot adequately put into words how I felt as people of the far north welcomed us back home to Aurere. For me personally I considered it a privilege and an honour to sail under the command of our Kaihautuu Hector Busby. We had sailed in all kinds of weather and some of the most testing times were around the North Island. Times like those temper us and make those of us who are passionate about the traditions of our ancestors hunger for more.

Na reira, maa te waa, ka huri.

Na Anaru Reedy

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