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Published: August 24th 2010
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Sunday 1.8.2010 day 291
Rapa Nui! (Polynesian), Easter Island! (English) Or Isla de Pascua! (Spanish), for a little island in the middle of nowhere why does it have 3 names?
Easter Island is relatively small, just 117 sq km with just one small town called Hanga Roa, population 3800. The rest of the island is uninhabited except for hundreds of wild horses that roam free on the island and of course over 800 of the Moai statues that are scattered everywhere.
We got up early and then went to church as I had read in our lonely planet that it is a mix of the Rapa Nui, Polynesian and Christian religion. It was very nice with lots of singing and there was a guy dresses in just a grass skirt there. We got there a bit late and left early as neither of us are really in to churches, I find that some of them give me a creepy feeing but this was more in a normal building which makes me feel better but not my friend.
Then we saw someone selling fish at the markets and we found got a yellow tailed fish for $10 Aus and it was just
over 1 kg! We then went to the hire shop to pick up the motorbike we reserved though our accommodation but when we saw it we decided that it was too high For the bad roads on the island and to be pillioning on so we got a scooter instead. We got helmets but mine was way too big so will not be of any help in an accident.
I assume that most of you know that the moai are the big stone heads, actually the heads have bodies and arms as well but everyone seems to just call them heads. What you may not know is that the platform on which the moai stand is known as an ahu. And the topknot that some of them have is called a pukao. Oh, and despite appearances, the pukao is not believed to be a hat, but instead it is believed to be a popular haircut of the period. So we went to a few sites and got to see lots of ahu and moai some restored and some not, some standing and some face down in the dirt still. You are not allowed to stand on or touch the moai
or the ahu that they stand on. We went to Rano Raaraku also called the nursery were the Moai were caved there is still more than 600 moai there some complete and ready to go others in various states of being caved and some have been pushed over on the ground face down. The tallest moai of 21m is still there. We also walked around the extinct volcano crater that was there although it was a bit muddy and slippery to get in. It rained on and off during the day. We also saw some of the so called rock art. It was not very good and you needed to have a few pisco sours to see what the sighs say they have caved looks like a 3 year old could have done better to me. If you are short of time then you can skip going to these. Then we needed more petrol so we headed back into town as that is where the only petrol station in the island is. Then we went back home for a short rest before heading to Tahai. Sunset at Tahai was simply perfect. Three Ahu, holding 7 Moai, face away from the
water and the sun turns up some magical colours as it sizzles into the ocean behind. We got some fantastic photos before riding back to our accommodation and having our fantastic fish dinner and going to bed after another busy day.
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