Crew Blog | Kuʻulei Bezilla: Visiting Aurere
On the beach, we could see the evidence of the abundant sea life in the area through the diverse collection of shells on the sand.
Yesterday the crew packed up around 8am and traveled to Aurere to visit Uncle Hector Busby and to check out the Kupe Learning Center as well as his renowned star compass. All of the crewmembers were excited to see the star compass, though perhaps none so much as ‘Anakala Kālepa Baybayan, who is excited to look at ways to implement what Uncle Hector has done in Hawai’i.
The crew also checked out the beach, Tokerau and se the mountain Puketu, which is the mountain of Ngati Ruawahia. On the beach, we could see the evidence of the abundant sea life in the area through the diverse collection of shells on the sand.
In between checking out the star compass and visiting the beach, some crewmembers did some sanding work on Te Aurere while others enjoyed a sit down talk story with Uncle Hector himself.
In the afternoon, the crew was welcomed by an amazing feast by the ‘ohana Brown in Aurere. One of their sons, Haimoana Brown, will be sailing with us to Auckland on Hikianalia.
The next day, the crew spent time at 90 Mile Beach and helped to gather clams for kai. It was amazing to see how easily accessible the calms were and how abundant they were as well! Haimona is from this area up North and says that this (clam gathering) is something normal that he has been doing, and continues to do, since he was a young boy.
After gathering the kai, we ate lunch up a creek off of 90 Mile Beach. Shortly after, we went to Cape Reinga. Although it was a short stop (about 30 mins max), we were all grateful to have had the experience to see two oceans meet up as one.
After our stop at Cape Reinga, the crew had a nice dinner and relaxing evening with our local hosts at the Wairiki hot pools. All of the crew really enjoyed this experience of natural thermal pools with different temperatures and minerals to help ease any aches and muscle pains.
The crew has returned to Whangarei and is ready for a great start of another educational outreach week!
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