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Outrigger sponsors Hokulea as it carries conservation message worldwide

RELEASE NUMBER 51/15

Andrew Gee, Hokulea Captain Bruce Blankenfeld and Andrew Denman (head of sales & marketing Australia for Hawaiian Airlines)
Andrew Gee, Hokulea Captain Bruce Blankenfeld and Andrew Denman (head of sales & marketing Australia for Hawaiian Airlines)

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Hokulea, sponsored in part by Outrigger Enterprises Group, sailed into Sydney Harbour on May 19 as part of its worldwide conservation-themed Malama Honua voyage.

A spectacular ceremony featuring traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander canoes and cultural performances welcomed Hokulea when it berthed at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour.

Andrew Gee, regional director of sales and marketing Australia and New Zealand for Outrigger Resorts; Juliet Hudson, sales manager, MICE and Destinations Weddings for Outrigger; and Andrew Denman, head of sales and marketing Australia for Hawaiian Airlines were on hand to greet the Hokulea’s captain, Bruce Blankenfeld.

Outrigger Enterprises Group has a long-standing relationship with the Polynesian Voyaging Society which launched the vessel in Hawaii in 1975 and is a strategic partner in the current worldwide voyage that began in Hawaii last May.

Hokulea aims to revitalize traditional voyaging and navigation traditions and will be open for a week to allow visitors and school students to climb on board, meet the crew and learn more about this unique vessel and its message.

The 62-foot vessel uses only wind power and is navigated using ancestral knowledge of star patterns, ocean movement, marine life and weather patterns.

While in Australia it will visit Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Lizard Island, Thursday Island and Darwin.

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