The first immigrants sailed to New Zealand from the Central Pacific in large double hulled waka built without any metal, using only natural materials and stone tools. It was the longest of all the Polynesian voyages, and the greatest test of their seafaring skills. The people who made the journey carried no navigational instruments at all. They relied entirely on the skill of their navigator who used his observations of the sun, stars, ocean, birds and clouds to carry them safely to land. They risked the voyage to New Zealand to escape warfare, death or starvation.
Abel Tasman sailed up the West Coast of New Zealand in 1642. He was not exploring for the fame or glory; he was an employee of a multinational trading company. His quest was to discover new lands with goods to trade back to Europe. The motivation behind Abel Tasman’s voyage was profit. This book follows two voyages; that of Abel Tasman in the Heemskerck and Zeehaen, and the Polynesians in the waka Kurahaupo. It describes the journeys to their dramatic point of coincidence in Golden Bay.