Last week a group of 18 Māori and Pasifika students went on a waka journey in the Abel Tasman National Park that was run by Whenua Iti Outdoors. When we arrived at whenua iti we spent the first day doing team building exercises to help everyone get to know each other and make sure that we could work together while on the waka.

The second day we spent a lot of time trying to work together as a group through the course of several activities that included things like balancing everyone on a giant seesaw. After the activities, we were told a plethora of stories that entail parts of Maori culture and history. Later in the day we also went to kaiteriteri and paddled the waka round the bay to get a feel for how it would be on the main journey to Anchorage the next day.

On the third day we set off on our 14 km journey. During our time in the waka we saw lots of marine life including seals and seabirds. As we paddled we stopped at an island that was completely predator free and it was amazing to just stop in silence to listen to the birds singing in the background. When we arrived at anchorage everyone was amazed by how beautiful it was and how warm the water was. After setting up our tents lots of us went for a swim.

On the fourth day we got up at five thirty in the morning and paddled out of the bay and into the open water to watch the sunrise. During the rest of the day we went on a bush walk, learnt mau rakau, played taonga pūoro (Māori musical instruments) and paddled the waka in a lagoon that was only accessible at high tide. On The way back from the lagoon some people went swimming off the waka. When we arrived at the camp, the first day we spent a lot of time playing games, bonding with one another and generally learning about each other and how the camp will proceed. We also had visitors from another Whenua iti course come for dinner that we welcomed by performing the maurakau we learnt. We also went on this bushwalk where we had to hide from the instructors. Whoever hid the best would get points and whoever got the most points would earn a prize. We also had guests come to the island and we had a pōwhiri and a hangi with them.

On our last day we headed back to Kaiteriteri and stopped at an island where we watched a seal swimming round in a small bay, We also stopped in another bay where some people went swimming while we waited for a drone to come and video the rest of our journey for advertising on the Waka Abel Tasman website. Before we left we had some kai with the instructors and said our goodbyes. Everyone really enjoyed the five days we spent on the waka journey and wished we could've stayed for longer. 

Written by Nikau Dymond and Rivir Crombie