To the sonorous call of a didgeridoo, the crew of the Hokule'a canoe stepped onto dry land at Darling Harbour on Tuesday, the latest stop in a 47,000 nautical mile journey around the world.
Along with its sister canoe Hikianalia, the 18.7-metre vessel is circumnavigating the globe to promote a more sustainable world and a revival of indigenous practices.
"Since its first voyage in 1976, the Hokule'a has become a living treasure, something to be nurtured and shared," said Captain Bruce Blankenfeld, who is leading a crew of 18 on a four-year journey to celebrate Hokule'a's 40th anniversary.
Welcomed by traditional hula performers from the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the canoe and its support team arrived in Sydney on Tuesday, having been delayed by bad weather in Coffs Harbour for a few days.
The crew stepped off the canoe, fanning themselves as they walked through a smoking ceremony conducted by indigenous leader Dean Kelly, who greeted them as "brothers and sisters from across the seas".
"You've just come...from your place, from your belonging, from your connection. I welcome you here, to Gadigal land, Eora nation."
In its 40 years, Hokule'a, which means "star of gladness", has sailed more than 150,000 nautical miles throughout the Pacific.
It is on the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage as part of a global movement towards a more sustainable world, using only wind power and navigation by ancestral knowledge of star and weather patterns, ocean movement and marine life.
"Malama means to care for something...the deepest sense of it is to leave a place in better condition than you found it," said Mr Blankenfeld, adding that this was "the purpose of this voyage".
The 19-metre traditional Polynesian canoe was launched from Hawaii in 1975, in celebration of the traditional navigation and voyaging traditions that brought the first Polynesians to the archipelago of Hawaii.
The four-year Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage began in 2014, when Hokule'a sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti, then to Samoa, followed by Aotearoa, New Zealand and on to Australia this month.
Liberal MP Nickolas Varvaris, who attended the welcome ceremony, said the journey would "encourage care and respect for our natural environment".
"You have journeyed here without the use of an engine...or any modern navigational tools. You have come on a 40-year voyage around the world. You epitomise the yearning to explore and discover the unknown that lies in each of us," he said.
Hokule'a will be at the Australian National Maritime Museum until May 22.
