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Oceans apart!
2013 Exhibition - Canoes of the Pacific
Our 2013 exhibition brought together paintings and plans, original artefacts and models showing the variety of canoes and catamarans which astounded Cook and his men with their beauty, speed and manoeuvrability - They could even outpace larger European ships!
How did Polynesians navigate across the vast and trackless ocean, discovering and settling numerous island groups?
How did they build such finely adapted craft from simple local materials?
Cook was fascinated, and he and his officers provide some of the earliest and most detailed insights into Pacific seafaring.
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