Follow the path of Polynesian voyagers in one semester

You’ll meet your Program Instructors in Hilo and head to Pahala for orientation. With James Aku we spend a day building an imu pit, heating the stones and preparing the food, then uncover it the next morning for our Imu feast. We tour Volcanoes National Park, usually hiking the Kīlauea Iki Trail across the crater floor, and snorkel at Kealakekua Bay on the way to Waimea. With Na Kalai Waʻa we begin learning traditional voyaging canoe observation and cultural practice at Puʻukoholā Heiau.

• Orientation
• Culture
• Volcanoes

A second day with Na Kalai Waʻa takes us to Mahukona to learn about its history and the organisation’s hopes for the future. Then we head to Hilo for a Hawaiian language introduction and cultural history session with Traven Apiki. With the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation we spend two days restoring the Hale o Lono fishpond in Keaukaha: clearing debris and invasive plants, dry stacking stone walls, maintaining the mākāhā (sluice gate) and propagating limu (seaweed). After a day to explore, we fly to Honolulu.

• Conservation
• Language
• Culture

On Oʻahu’s North Shore we take surf lessons with HI Surf in Haleʻiwa and snorkel at Shark’s Cove. In Honolulu we snorkel Hanauma Bay, inside a volcanic crater on the southeast coast, then spend two days on marine conservation with Ocean Alliance.

• Surfing
• Snorkeling
• Conservation

We help at the Hawaiʻi Food Bank, climb Koko Crater for sunset, visit the Bishop Museum and wrap up our time in Hawaiʻi. Then we fly to Fiji. A local guide leads an orientation on Fijian culture, customs, language and safety, and we explore Nadi by public transport. On the way to Suva we work with the National Trust of Fiji at the sand dunes in Fiji’s first national park: removing marine debris, planting trees and learning from the ranger.

• Service
• Hiking
• Conservation

With park rangers we spend a morning on forest park conservation (bird watching, tree planting and mending walkways) with a waterfall swim, then explore Suva and its museum with a local guide. At Namosi EcoRetreat we’re welcomed with a kava ceremony, meke and a bonfire. Over the next days we learn crafts, music and Fijian phrases, hike the highlands, build bamboo rafts and swim the river, and spend a day on community service in Navunikabi village. Then we move to the coast at Deuba.

• Culture
• Service
• Hiking

We take a longboat up the Navua River, visit a local village, swim at a waterfall and tube back down through the rainforest. Two days of mangrove conservation follow: planting and caring for seedlings, nursery maintenance, a beach clean and a climate change workshop. From Nadi we take the boat to Drawaqa in the Yasawa Islands, where we snorkel with manta rays and start coral conservation projects with Barefoot Manta.

• Adventure
• Conservation
• Snorkeling

We finish our coral projects, which can include coral nursery work, reef monitoring and marine debris removal, then return to Nadi and fly to Auckland. In Paihia we take an educational tour of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to learn about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its significance today, kayak or snorkel depending on the weather, and have a day to explore the far north.

• Conservation
• History
• Kayaking

At Tawharanui Regional Park we spend four days on conservation projects with the council, such as invasive species trapping, camping in the park with optional kiwi spotting in the evenings. Then we travel to Rotorua and stay at Paruaharanui Marae, with an introduction to Māori culture and the marae. We raft a river that includes the world’s highest commercially rafted waterfall, at 7 metres.

• Conservation
• Culture
• Rafting

We soak in explore Rotorua’s geothermal sights and ride self-guided mountain bike trails with Planet Bike. After time at Lake Taupō, we head to Owhango Adventures base. Our Whanganui River canoe journey begins with a karakia (prayer) for safe passage. Led by our Kaitiaki, we paddle through steep canyons lined with native bush, stopping to swim, and set up camp each night.

• Mountain biking
• Geothermal
• Canoeing

On the river we walk to the Bridge to Nowhere and are welcomed onto Tieke Kāinga Marae with a pōwhiri, sleeping in the wharenui. We paddle on toward Pipiriki and return to base. After a rest day and our program wrap, we finish in Wellington with a night tour of Zealandia and a walking day from Te Papa along the waterfront to Parliament, before flying home from Wellington.

• Canoeing
• Culture
• Program wrap