So we moved to an island: Triumph

Finally, the big week arrived: Vaka Eiva, the international paddling event that we'd been training for all year.

The usually quiet waterfront was a hive of activity, with flags and stalls and even light bulbs in the toilets, as more than 800 paddlers started to pour in from around the Pacific.

Teams from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands were out practising and getting a feel for the local conditions; and the little island was humming.

Lots of attention was on Lisa Curry-Kenny, the former Olympian gold medallist swimmer from Australia who switched to paddling after her swimming career. Looking around, it took no convincing to realise we'd be at the back of the field - but as long we we didn't tip over, and didn't come competely last, we'd be happy.

First up for me was the 12 km women's masters race - teams of six women over 35 years old. We look confident in this shot, but truth be told we were pretty nervous. Cue many trips to the loo.

The race was to begin around 7:30am, so it was a very early start: up before 5am in order to eat, get to the harbour (half an hour from my home), set up the canoe and warm up. Lots of pre-race nerves... hundreds of toned, very fit women... loud music pumping everyone up...and a quiet team prayer for safety before we headed out.

We came 13th out of 17, which was great considering our lack of experience. This is Toru from our masters team, on the right, and Dani, from the open women's team.

C was at school for most of the week, but she came down to watch the singles with me at the weekend, and then she had the day off to watch Mum in the big event at the end of the week. You can see her by the pole, wearing a white top and red shorts.

It's a sacrifice for the whole family when someone does a sport like this - and on our last training night, the week before Vaka Eiva, some paddling friends and I took our kids out for a special dinner to honour them and say thank you for their support. I am actually surprised how much C likes me paddling - it has meant cooking dinner late on many occasions - and the kids are really proud of us. "You should do paddling back in New Zealand," says C.

In the middle of the week was a day of sprint races, held at the beautiful Muri Lagoon. This was seen as more of a fun event, but keenly contested all the same, the vakas racing 250m out from the beach, turning around, and then 250m back in again.

Here you can see Vaea, our gorgeous head coach, giving us some last-minute advice. We hadn't practised our turns much, as we had concentrated on training for the long-distance stuff, but we did OK. I think we came fourth out of five in our heat.

There were lots of fun races that day, too - like paddling with your hands and running with coconuts (but without using your hands to hold them.)

The weather was amazing.... you couldn't have wished for a better advertisement for the Cook Islands.

It takes a lot of skill to do this! We didn't try it, as we probably would have capsized (as it was, we tipped on one of our last training nights while practising a turn in the harbour. Some of the international crews were already in the country and watching. Embarrassing. )

On the last day of the week, it was the Big One: the 'round-raro relay.' Nine women in a six-seat boat, with changeovers every ten minutes. Another early start - this time in partly overcast conditions, which was good.

Conditions were good, moderate wind and seas. It was hard to tell the teams apart sometimes, as we all had to wear the shirt with the sponsors on it for the main event. I'm in the number three spot here, which is the 'caller' - who calls to change sides every 10 or so strokes.

A pity this shot is not clearer, but it's the only one which shows part of a changeover. Every ten minutes, the support boat manoevres into position in front of the canoe and drops three women into the sea. Once in the water, you put your hands up so the steerer can see you and she lines up the canoe.

As it approaches, three people jump out on the other side, you look for your spot, grab the side of the canoe and kick like mad, hauling yourself into it. In the shot above, you can see numbers 1 and 5 still getting into the boat, and the three heads in the water are those who have just jumped out.

It's always a relief to get into the support boat - the race is like a series of 20 minute sprints, so you're pretty tired and thirsty. Then it's time to jump back into the water again.

I happened to be in the 'finishing six' - ie in the vaka and not the crew boat as we came in to the finish line. As we got closer, we could hear the island drums beating- every boat is 'drummed in' - and the crowds on the wharf were enormous. Even the last kilometre was exciting, as we realised how close we were, and that we'd actually done it.

We came 8th out of ten in the women's open class - and we were so pleased with ourselves that anyone watching at the finish line would have thought we'd won something. Lots of yahooing and hugging. Thirty-six kms around the island, in 3hrs 41 minutes. Oh, and two seconds.

Afterwards, someone from one of the overseas teams asked one of our girls how we did. She replied that we came eighth, but that we were thrilled with that because we were all novice paddlers.

"So what constitutes a novice paddler here, then," the overseas woman asked. "How many years have you been paddling?"

When she heard that we'd started paddling only at the beginning of the year, apparently her mouth fell open in astonishment:-)

The race wasn't without mishap - one of the New Zealand crews ended up being swept over the reef, despite being warned repeatedly by the safety boats to move further out. I can only imagine how scary that must have been, the waves hurling you over a coral reef. A few of them were taken to hospital, but none of their injuries was too serious. They were very lucky.

That night, after the awards ceremony the waterfront was full... and the New Zealand band Adijah played late into the night. And in true Cook Island style, like at any big event, there was lots of dancing.

Reflecting on the experience, I'm so glad I stuck with it -through the hours and hours of training, the 5:30am runs and bike rides, the punishing drills and the paddling-related injuries (I visited Ainsley, my physio, afterwards especially to say thank you... couldn't have done it without her).

All in all, it feels like a real achievement.

*****

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you had everything to do - and you've done it."

- Margaret Thatcher