Programs Blog

Date: April 13th, 2025

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Farmington, CT

Weather: 52˚ F, cloudy

The history of Aotearoa is elaborate and diverse. In class before we went to the ship we watched videos from the Aotearoa History Show’s YouTube channel. This provided me with a better understanding of New Zealand’s history. Māori people represent 16.5 percent of the population, the Indigenous people inhabiting New Zealand. As we learned from an in-class documentary screening, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the British Crown and the Māori in 1840. The treaty allowed the British to govern New Zealand while promising the Māori people the right to their land and resources. This founding document remains under debate. In Aotearoa New Zealand everything is in English and Māori. These are two official languages of the country, which we observed in the signage once we arrived in Auckland then flew to Christchurch to meet the ship. At first glance there was nothing unusual or culturally drastically different in New Zealand. Everyone was very friendly upon arrival, and I was greeted by their warm accents. 

Thursday, April 3rd: We arrived at the ship this morning and it felt so nice to finally get here! Our ship, the Robert C. Seamans is parked in the Lyttelton port where there are lots of shipping containers and cranes. There was also a great deal of lumber in the port. It was drizzling so we got on our foul weather gear and met on the quarterdeck. We made a rainbow with our different colored jackets. Today was a lot of introduction and orientation of the ship.

Friday, April 4th: This morning I woke up to my first real day in New Zealand! It was cold until the sun peeked out at around 9. As soon as the sun was out I felt it on my skin. It is so much stronger in New Zealand than in the States. The first day on board I learned about different duties on the ship for B watch. B watch is in charge of the sails so we mainly focused on the location of each sail. The ship is even better than I expected, and I can’t wait to finally set sail!

As it turned out I never got to be on the ship while it was moving. I was only in New Zealand for about two days before I got injured and dislocated my knee! About an hour before this occurred I went for a run. We had some free time in Lyttelton to explore and have dinner. I decided to go for a run before meeting up with other students. I ran almost every day in Woods Hole, so in Lyttelton I ran to a point and walked around a bit. It was about 80 degrees out so I dipped in the water before returning to the center of town. It was beautiful with mountains in every direction. I stopped at a gelato shop with other SEA students and little did I know it was moments before the disaster. I walked down a step to try Aimee’s gelato, and I tripped and fell. I heard and felt my knee pop out before crashing to the ground. This had happened once before when I was a freshman in college. 

I sadly had to return home, and I am writing this post from the comfort of my desk. This is obviously not the outcome I hoped to have for this semester, but I always like to keep on the bright side. I hope to meet up with everyone in Moorea in a few weeks!

Elle Lansing