Rarotonga's Vaka Eiva 2013 - blessing the canoes

Vaka Eiva's over for another year and this, the tenth anniversary, was a huge success.
Over 1000 paddlers took to the waters around Rarotonga during the week (22 - 29 November) and with all their families and supporters the island was packed with visitors out to enjoy the sporting and other events on offer.
The weather was good for the most part apart from a few heavy showers on some days. Can't complain about that though because we've been suffering from a bit of a drought recently.
The festival started as usual with a traditional blessing of the canoes. This year there were eight newly built ones and over thirty in all.
That's a far cry from the original seven vaka that made up the fleet ten years ago and just shows how much Vaka Eiva has grown over the years thanks to the hard work of organisers and the generosity of sponsors.
For more pictures and stories check out Cook Islands News and the website of Harvie Allison, the long-time official Vaka Eiva photographer.