Waka Warriors - Full Series

Mereana Pitman talks about the waka as a kind of floating marae; you learn about the environment, how to live and work together and what it takes to survive in that natural environment. You have to connect and be in sync and work together.

– Massey University lecturer Te Rina (Krystal) Warren, to Stuff reporter Sienna Yates, 24 May 2015

At each please we stopped, we learned about the area and a kaumatua from every area would take us around and tell us about the places they're from and where the waka landed back in the day. Been learning heaps of new waiata and haka as well.

– Voyager Keanu Townsend (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi), in an interview with Stuff, 24 May 2015

Jeez, that was a bit of a waste of time: just should've tipped the food straight over the side and we wouldn't have had to wash the plate!

– Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr (Tainui) on one of the crew getting seasick

I don’t know how to sail, but I want to experience lots of things in life. 

– Ricky Russell-Waipuka (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa), early in episode one

Six weeks at sea on a 72-foot waka. No running water, no privacy and a crew of 16...

– The show's narrator

Ooh, seasick. Doesn’t matter how long you've been out at sea, or how long you’ve done it for, they always say ‘don’t give other people shit, because it’ll happen to you.’ 

– Haunui crew member Rawiri McLeod, in episode one

We’re all kaumoana on here. For me, a kaumoana is like a Māori on the marae, you know? On a marae, a Māori knows what to do — you know when there’s a pōwhiri, you gotta be out there doing that. You know when the spuds need to be peeled, you know when to do that, the dishes need to be washed…same kinda concept on the waka, you know?  . . know when the sails need to be rigged up, you're there. When it starts to rain on the marae, you pull the seats in. It's the same on here — when it gets a bit rough, you gotta trim down on your sails. 

– Crew member Toiora Hawira is asked to define 'kaumoana' (crew member/mariner), in episode two

It’s always interesting when people come on the awa, it’s about the ancestry they bring and the kōrero that they awaken.  

– Turama Hawira, father of crew member Toi Hawira, in episode four

...I really want her to come to Raro, not because she's on my watch or [I've] been hanging out with her a lot, but because she's another wāhine. You don’t need the boys to give you a hand; why, when you have us girls to do it? 

– Rereahu Hetet, Haunui crew member and niece of Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, on wanting Rickylee to be picked for the trip to Rarotonga, in episode four

I’ve never, ever ever seen my land from this perspective before. And it makes you think about how people would have seen it when they first came here. 

– Rickylee takes in the sunset, in episode five

Some of the iwi are forest-dwelling iwi, so Tāne is the main atua. But when you come here, Tangaroa is the main atua. You move like the sea. Our style is the roll of the waves, is the ebbing tides, the froth that the waves cause…all those emotions are in everything we do, so that's the importance of having waka hourua. That's the importance of having you guys here. Tangaroa i te titi, Tangaroa i te tata. Tangaroa supreme below, Tangaroa supreme above.

– Whangaparāoa local and future MP Rawiri Waititi (Te Whānau a Apanui), late in episode six

Our people have become less dependent on traditional preservation skills, and more dependent on Pak’nSave and New World. So for us, it’s about trying to keep those traditions alive that have been handed down through the lines.  

– Maraenui (Bay of Plenty) local Kylie Poihipi (Te Whānau a Apanui), in episode seven

Today was mean . . . it’s good to meet other kaitiaki that are wāhine. I mean, this is all under her care . . . You'd have to be a strong woman to be able to be the guardian kaitiaki of such a great island like this. That’s a big responsibility. And she looks like she's doing a pretty good job. 

– Rickylee after spending time with Tūhua/Mayor Island kaitiaki Victoria Harimate. in episode eight

It’ll be pretty weird going back to normal day-to-day life. I can’t believe how much we’ve done over the last six weeks, aye. This has been my home.

– Keanu Townsend, in episode eight

You actually have to live with 14 or 15 other people and you have to be responsible for keeping the canoe sailing, keeping it tidy, keeping your space tidy and operating in a way which doesn't disrupt and annoy other people. Once we get offshore they can't access a lot of the social media and there's I guess a bit of a time of cold turkey, where they've gotta go without their cellphones . . . there's nothing else to do but focus on what's actually happening on board.

– Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, captain of the Haunui, Stuff website, 24 May 2015