Moananuiākea crew reaches Rarotonga Photo: Supplied
A Hawaiian navigator-in-training taking part in a four-year voyage of the Pacific Ocean says it is a heavy responsibility knowing her job is to keep navigation stays both relevant and sacred.
Lucy Lee said the Moananuiākea crew began their 47-month circumnavigation in Tahiti's Papeete, then sailed to Bora Bora before arriving in Rarotonga, where they will spend the next two weeks.
She told RNZ Pacific that the opportunity to learn from master navigators is a rare gift.
''The best way that you can really learn navigation is to just be out there. We had a lot of good times out on the ocean, on this sail."
Lucy Lee Photo: Supplied
She said that while some nights were full of a sky adorned with stars, other were cloudy.
When the stars come out, the younger crew spend time studying and familiarising themselves with the night sky.
On less ideal nights, it is all about ''learning to tune into those other parts of nature, the swell, the wind, those sorts of things, all aiding us to get to Rarotonga,'' she added.
'Voyaging culture is very, very rich'
The voyage is all about inspiring a global movement of ocean stewardship, Tua Pittman, a Cook Islands master navigator on board said.
They have encountered wild weather on the first few legs of the journey.
Pittman said that although it is tough work navigating ancient pathways, it is rewarding.
Tua Pittman, a Cook Islands master navigator Photo: Supplied
''The whales came by, they jumped out of the water to meet us. They breached and splashed into the water. And then right after that, just before we came into the [Rarotonga] harbour, the rainbows came out,'' he said.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has welcomed Polynesian voyaging canoes Hōkūle'a and Hikianaliato Rarotonga.
The Moananuiākea voyage is led by the Polynesian Voyaging Society and is about connecting communities across the Pacific and honouring Indigenous wisdom, Brown said.
He said the vaka are sacred and mark the ''return of ancestral memories our shores''.
Moananuiākea crew reaches Rarotonga Photo: Supplied
He added the vaka carry the mana of generations of way finders, voyagers and of Pacific peoples, who have always known how to navigate the vast Moana-nui-a-Kiva.
The crew of the Polynesian voyaging canoes Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia are set to stay in Rarotonga for two weeks before continuing their voyage.
