The world-circling waka Hokule'a arrived in Hawke Bay early yesterday but without fanfare or welcome - just yet.
That will come later this month when the Hawaii-based waka, referred to as "the mother ship" of wakas, will head into port and tie up for a four or five-day visit.
As the navigator and one of the skippers of the Ahuriri-based waka Te Matau a Maui Piripi Smith explained, the schedule for their Hawaiian cousins was crucially weather- dependent.
Unlike the local waka the Hokule'a did not have an auxiliary engine so had to plan and sail entirely dependent on the conditions.
Mr Smith said the forecasts gave the waka a good two-day window of opportunity to get into Wellington, where conditions were more uncertain.
