Trader Jacks is “looking forward” to hosting Vaka Eiva competitors again as the Cook Islands’ premier outrigger canoe international regatta returns to Avarua Wharf for the first time in four years. With three-and-a-half hours added to opening time, a freshly-painted car park boosting ambulance access, and plans to cater for 500 people on closing night – the Rarotonga restaurant and bar is anticipating “a very busy week”, director Chris Douglas said.

“It’s good. Normally, this time of year – pre-Christmas – is a bit quieter,” Douglas said.

“This (Vaka Eiva) is one of the biggest ones by far, and they’ll all be out and about doing tourist-y things.”

Douglas said Trader Jacks had been “party central” for the international event since it began in 2004, when the Cook Islands and New Zealand were the only countries to take part.

He had watched the paddling festival grow to include Australia, Tahiti, and Hawaii, and understood paddlers from as far away as Europe were among the more than 350 overseas competitors flocking to Rarotonga for the event.

Douglas said between Saturday, November 25, and Friday, December 1, the restaurant portion of the business would be opening at 7.30am to serve filter coffee and breakfast during the event, ahead of the bar opening at the normal time of 11am.

The Airport Authority had recently painted lines in the car park for guiding ambulances “in and out” if there is an emergency on the water, Douglas said.

Former employees had been called in to boost staff numbers to 40 to help the restaurant and bar host the closing night buffet, which was expected to draw 500 people into the establishment, he said.

“We’ve got a couple of bands on, and we’ll have a third bar set up – on top of the main bar and the one in the restaurant – on the concrete,” he said.

“It’s a very busy week that we’re all looking forward to.”