Guided by stars, swells, and ancestral intuition, the crew of Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti navigated thousands of kilometres to reach Samoa from New Zealand, describing moments of wonder, doubt, and spiritual presence along the way.

The traditional Polynesian canoe arrived on Poutasi, on the South Coast of Upolu, on Wednesday afternoon.

“Every island we’ve found just feels more and more special,” said Teira Tohu, a navigator on the waka. “But this is the first island we get to fish up — and plant our feet on.”

Teira Tohu (far left) 

The glow of landfall came at sunset — a faint dome of light on the horizon, steady and unmoving. For the crew of Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, a Māori voyaging canoe from Aotearoa, New Zealand, that glow marked not just the end of a long ocean passage but the rekindling of an ancestral bond between island nations.

“At sunset we saw a glow … everything else was dark except for that one spot, and that spot never moved, so we were like, oh man, it’s gotta be an island,” Tohu recalled.

But the voyage was not without challenges. Cloud cover and uncertain readings tested her confidence as she balanced instinct and calculation. “I started questioning my numbers, like everything I had done over the last few days,” she said. Still, the journey was filled with signs of guidance that transcended the physical.

“Every island, just before we saw the island, we would see a pool of light — so many spirits flying in. I’d say about 50 or 70 of them, just swarming around us,” Tohu said, describing what she believed were ancestral presences accompanying their waka.

Tohu, one of only three women on the waka to train as a navigator under master Pwo navigator Jack Thatcher, described the voyage as both emotional and spiritual.

On the night they approached Samoa, she said the heavens seemed to open. “Last night, when we saw the glow and we were almost here, it was the brightest, shiniest, starriest night of the whole voyage. I think it was definitely a good sign for us.”

Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti arrived in Poutasi, Falealili on Wednesday afternoon, where they were welcomed by members of the village, the Samoa Voyaging Society, and Samoa’s former Head of State, Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Efi.

The journey — part of the Te Hekenga ki Tua - Seeking the Horizon expedition — was ten years in the making and was undertaken without modern navigational instruments by most of the crew. 

The waka departed from Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) with nine crew members — including one captain, a quartermaster, and seven student navigators from Te Kura Waka, a school of Pacific celestial navigation founded by master Pwo navigator Jack Thatcher to ensure this ancestral knowledge is passed on and practised. The voyage served as a graduation test for these students, who relied solely on traditional methods to complete the journey.

Over three weeks, the crew relied on stars, wind, waves, and landforms to find their way across the Pacific.

The Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti will remain in Samoa for about a week before continuing its graduating voyage to Tonga, again using traditional navigation methods. The final leg will conclude back in Aotearoa.