6 days a week, for three hours a day this team had trained in preparation for this event. Add to this the many fundraisers to assist the financial costs involved and the time spent to mentally prepare - It was good to be on the plane finally.

Tahiti is a 5 hour flight crossing the "international dateline". Therefore we left NZ on Thurs 24th March at 3.15pm and arrived in Papeete (the capital), Tahiti at 9.40pm Wed 23rd March. We were greeted by the Eimeo Va'a races' - founding member and organiser - Tibo Cathbault. After an informal welcome with 'lei's adorning our necks we were ushered onto the local school bus (which was like something out of a South African safari move) for our short ride through the city to the International Sports Academy, where we stayed the evening.

The humidity was intense and with the excitement of the trip still fresh we all slept soundly.

The sun rose around 4.30am, by the time we opened our eyes around 5.00am, there were people already walking/running the athletics track at the Academy. The morning of the 24th (that was a little weird-as we all knew we had just left NZ on the 24th) we caught a ferry to the Island of Moorea. Moorea is the second wealthiest Island to Bora Bora of the French Archipelago and has a thriving Tourist and Black Pearl industry. Upon arrival we were taken for lunch and then headed for a mountain trek. Our guide told us the trek would take approximately 40mins - 3 hours later we saw the car park again - I know some of us thought we may never see civilization again. On occasion the tracks were non existent and so our guide had to cut his way through with his machete - apparently we weren't lost tho???????

Our team was fortunate to be billeted with teachers of College de PaeoPao, which is the hosting school of this event. So we were able to experience the 'real life' of Moorea and its people. How beautiful they all were, it is without a doubt even better than the brochures depict.

With crystal clear waters, coral reefs, tropical fish, tropical forests, unpopulated terrain and fresh fruit and fish the main diet with great Coffee and beautiful people - how could we go wrong.

RACE DAY

Race day begain with waking up at 4am for 4.30am breakfast. It was then off to the Event Venue at 'Tame beach' to weigh our Va'a and prepare for the event we had come to participate in.

There were students for as far as the eye could see. With 29 schools from Moorea and surrounding Islands including the main Island of Tahiti all here to take the Champions' position of the" Eimeo Race 2011". There was only one other international team and that was" Team Hawaii". We had met the Hawaiians on the ferry across to Moorea and from the first hand shake our teams bonded like we had been friends forever. I think it was also because although English is spoken in Tahiti it is not their first language. They speak French, Tahitian and then English. So as the Hawaiians and us spoke English there was this common ground - neither teams could understand a lot that was going on.- But it was fun trying to work it all out.

The race started at 9.30am - there we were lined up amongst the other 29 Va'a. White Flag, Red Flag - Green Flag - we were off. The first of 9 stages was underway.

All squads comprised of 2 teams of 6 paddlers. Each team raced alternate stages. At the end of each stage you had to park your Va'a next to a Spectator boat, the team that had just raced then needed to dis-embark and then team 2 needed to em-bark and head off to the start line of the next stage, and so on and so on through each stage. Stages varied in length between 4.4km to 6km. In total it was 44km, with team 1 doing 20km and team 2 doing 24 km. The race was around the circumference of Moorea Island and is raced within the Lagoon. So although we were at sea, as long as you didn't breach the Coral Reef it was relatively safe. However they did have plenty of Safety boats and precautions which were great to see from our point of view. The race stopped for lunch after the 5th stage and our paddlers were so glad to get that time to replenish food stores, hydrate properly and just mentally prepare for the remaining 4 stages.

Stage 7 was against the clock and so if you had been last in you were first out on this stage and every team left one minute behind each other. While our faithful team 1 was intensely focusing on stage 7, powering every stroke, staying focused and motivating each other, team 2 meanwhile was swimming with the sting rays and baby sharks while we waited for them to pass. - We always remembered to cheer them on though, as did team 1, when team 2 was putting in the hard slog, keeping the speed fast and furious for that entire 6 kms. It seemed the Tahitans all had super power drinks for Lunch as the level of speed of racing went up another notch if not 2 in the second half of the day. Stage 8 - 6kms (second to last for the day) was raced at incredible speed, our team 2, held the pace and finished in the middle of the bunch - what a fantastic effort by all. However just when they thought it was over for them, after assessing all our Kaihoe, the fatigue was setting in, so the decision was made to keep Team 2 on for the final stage with only one change. This was the only stage kaihoe were allowed to paddle two consecutive stages. The surprise was written on each of Team 2's faces but they all fronted up and took on the challenge. It was a 2.9km sprint to the finish line. (Although I don't think the Tahitians know the difference between a sprint and a marathon pace). The flags were raised and the race was on for HOME. Our New Zealand squad powered through maintaining their position in the middle of the bunch, however ¼ way through the race a local team tipped our tail while simultaneously another local team cut across the bow causing the 3 waka to be locked up. However not letting this hinder our finish our Team pulled away and started there charge for home again. In great spirit they made ground on the leaders and finished within the top 10 Va'a home within that final stage. Final results overall we came in 11th of 29 Va'a. What an absolutely fantastic effort by both teams, who worked together both on the water and off to achieve such a fantastic result.

As a team we experienced many "firsts" in this race. As there is nothing like it in New Zealand at all.

The Tahitians were extremely aggressive paddlers - There were no lanes and at the "GO Flag" It was every Va'a for themselves. It took both the Hawaiians and ourselves the first 2 stages to settle into the style of race we were participating in. But once we overcame those initial "OMG what are we doing here" thoughts - our NZ team settled into some good hard racing. We overcame the challenges of being the newbies on the course, the rolling sea waves, the head winds, the tropical showers, the tough waves from all the other motorised boats that were following the race as well as the competitiveness of all the teams on the water. All those days on the water at the Clive River under the umbrella of Heretaunga Ararau Waka Ama Roopu had certainly prepared us for the distance involved, however nothing could have prepared us for the speed at which this Race was going to run at. The Tahitian style of paddling is fast and faster. Here in NZ we train at a sprint pace(technique) and a marathon pace(technique), it appears in Tahiti there is only one technique - and that is FAST. All being said and done, the NZ Team of Students held there own. Their final race position was very respectable. - This was an absolutely fantastic result for this inaugural team. At the presentation ceremony we were presented with a Participation trophy made of "Mother of Pearl" In return our NZ team did the renown Kahungunu Haka "Tika Tonu" which was received with great pleasure and gratitude from the Tahitians.

This experience pushed all our Kaihoe to another level, within their own Physical and Mental fitness, to become even better Kaihoe . They all showed unwavering support for each other, and pushed their own personal limits to the absolute maximum.

The New Zealand Team of Secondary Students who participated within the Eimeo Va'a Race were:
Aurora Akauola,Capt Team 1(NGHS), Tamiciah Clair (NGHS), Te Pomarie Hawaikirangi (NGHS), Allandria Punda (NGHS)(reserve), Mahaki Akauola, Capt Team 2(NBHS), Jordan Stuart (NBHS), Jordan Wihongi(NBHS), Manaia Wilson-McGhee (GBHS), and Caleb Taare(Lytton)

These New Zealand students will go down in the history of this race: The Eimeo race has been running for 9 years. This is the first New Zealand Secondary team to travel to Moorea and participate within the esteemed Eimeo Race - Congratulations to them all; they have represented their respective schools, their team and their respective clubs admirably. It was truly my honour to be there Coach/Team Manager. It was most certainly an extremely proud day to be involved within Waka Ama and with all these talented Rangatahi.

We returned to NZ on Monday the 28th March, arriving around 10.30pm. Tired but so elated for having been able to participate within this fantastic event.

Upon our return we brought with us our new whanau of Tahitians from Moorea Island, College de Paeo Paeo. Who had now come to join with us in the Secondary National Waka Ama Event to be held at Blue Lake in Rotorua. -

I would encourage all rangatahi to seriously consider attending this race in the future - its such a fantastic opportunity to experience racing amongst the best in the World on their home waters and they are such beautiful people.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me, especially if you think you might like to go in 2012 - I know we are definitely going again, as we've set our bench mark and need to return to better our placing.