31 Jul 2006

Tangaroa welcomed in French Polynesian capital

5:58 pm on 31 July 2006

The raft Tangaroa with six crew on board has arrived in the French Polynesian capital, Papeete, three weeks after crossing from Peru to the Raroia atoll in the Tuamotus.

A large crowd was at the beach in Tahiti when the raft completed its voyage aimed at replicating the Kontiki crossing of 1947.

One of the sailors is Olav Heyerdahl who is the grandson of Thor Heyerdahl.

The Tangaroa crossed the Pacific in 71 days to Raroia and has since also stopped in Raiatea before arriving in Papeete.

The raft will be shipped to Norway where it will join the Kontiki in its Oslo museum.