Polynesian Navigation and the Discovery of New Zealand

Description

The Polynesian navigator Kupe is credited with the discovery of the land his expedition named Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud. How did he and the many canoes that followed find their way to New Zealand without modern navigational techniques through perilous seas in wooden canoes?By examining myth, star charts and contemporary Polynesian seafaring, Jeff Evans traces the methods by which the early explorers made their epic voyages in Part One. The book's second part travels with Maori canoe expert Matahi Brightwell and navigator Frances Cowan aboard the traditional canoe Hawaiki-nui following traditional navigation-with no modern aids-on its historic voyage from Tahiti down to New Zealand. Richly illustrated with photos, maps and drawings, this is an essential guide to one of the world's great stories of discovery.

Jeff Evans is a well-known writer and photographer who works for leading clients in New Zealand and overseas. An authority on Maori canoes, Jeff is also the author of Polynesian Navigation and the Discovery of New Zealand, Nga Waka o Nehera: The first voyaging canoes and Waka Taua: The Maori War Canoe, and editor of Elsdon Best's Notes on the Art of War. Jeff lives in Te Atatu, Auckland with his family.