Journey on the Waka

My job as a Tahuna is to show the captain which direction to go. I’ve been  learning all my life how to read the stars. My Koro taught me the waiata to help me learn how to navigate my way across the seas so that I can guide the waka. There were 12 people and lots of animals on the waka with me.  We took animals with us so we always had food to eat.

I am excited to go to the new place but I feel scared because I might make a mistake and the waka will go the wrong way. I think everyone on the boat is a bit scared of the massive waves, the changing of the weather, and the long journey. Most of the other people are very scared of the boat flipping over. There were lot’s of those waves smashing down at the waka almost flipping it over they could hear lots of loud noises but most of the time they could hear smooth noises of the sea when there was no waves smashing down everywhere.

Even though all I could see  around me was the blue ocean, I knew that we were going in the right direction and felt excited about seeing the new land. The others were starting to feel bored with spending so much time on the waka doing nothing.  I could smell the salt water all around me. I could hear the waves flopping on to the waka below.

As the Tahuna I have to make sure the waka goes in the right direction. My koro showed me my skills most of the others depend on me because if I directed them in the wrong we might get lost at sea it is very confusing sometimes because you have to stay up showing the way.  

When Puke spotted land, I was very happy and relieved to see land again, as were the other’s. We started singing a waiata together. We had  used lots of different signs that told us that land was near, we knew by the seabirds ,the changing colour of the ocean, following the stars by night and the sun by day.

Throughout the voyage I felt like it was a huge responsibility  that everyone arrived safely to our new land. Although I had learnt much about using the stars to guide us, I would like to study this more before setting off on another voyage.