Whenua-ki-te-Tonga - Terra Australis

The Captain Cook Society and Friends of the RNZN Museum Trust, in Association with the National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy, invite you to a conference to mark 250 years since the search for Terra Australis by HMB Endeavour and over a 1000 years of Polynesian discovery of Whenua-ki-te-Tonga.

If you have an interest in the European theory and search for Terra Australis including HMB Endeavour’s 1768-1771 voyage, and Polynesian voyaging and discovery of the Pacific and its southern lands (Whenua-ki-te-Tonga), this event is for you! Speakers will consider the people involved, their motivations and achievements and how they can be considered today. Presentations and events will be at a variety of historic and culturally significant venues.

The venues for the conference are the National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy: Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa Marae, Ngataringa Bay and HMNZS PHILOMEL, (Home of the Navy).

The Conference has attracted a range of expert New Zealand and overseas speakers presenting original works that consider the voyaging traditions and discoveries of the European and Polynesian navigators.