3760km away from anything

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Hola,

So we got up at the crack of dawn and went to the airport for our first flight in over a month. Where were we going you ask? Well, we were off to Rapa Nui or Isla de Pascua. Still trying to figure it out? How about its more famous named: Easter Island. It is 3760 kilometres away from anything, and is thus the most remote lace on earth.

The flight was only 5 hours or so, and when we arrived we were gived leis by Camping Mihinoa and then they drove us to our hostel which was located on a penninsula overlooking the waves of the South Pacific crashing on to the rocks on the shoreline.

We wandered the capital of Hango Roa, but it was Sunday and during siesta time so everything was closed. We were able to get some tuna empañadas though, and they were great. We were walking back to the hostel when we ran into two Canadians that we had met on the flight. They had rented a truck and they drove us to the interior of the island and then out to one of the beautiful golden sand beaches called Ovahe. They then dropped us back at the hostel and we decided to book a tour for the next day because we thought it would be the best way to get the most out of the Island's sights. That night, we were treated to one of the most spectatular sunsets that either of us had ever seen. The sky was brilliant hues of orange and yellow and the ocean turned pink. It was incredible!

We slept amazingly well that night because our tour was not starting until 10am. We were met by Esteban, our tour guide, and our other tour members, and older American couple, and off we went. The first two sites we visited were Vaihu and Akahanga. They were both platforms with fallen moai. All of the moai were torn down during the 19th century during clan conflict and some have since been put back on their platforms. It was interesti8ng to see the state that the moais were in after they had been torn down. The next site was Ranu Roraku and it was one of the most interesting on the island. It was the quarry where all of the moai were cared. Many of them are still there, in various stages of construction. It was really cool because it felt like we were walking through a moai graveyard. The largest statue tere was 16 metres hgh and weighed over 200 tons! We then headed over to Tongariki, which was the largest platform on the island with 16 moai on it. It was cool looking at them with the surf crashing in behind them. They had actually been put in place by a Japanese company whose owner had watched a program on the site and wanted to help out somehow. The next two sites were smaller in scale. The first one was Papa Vaka. There were many stone petroglyphs at the site representing many things including birds, fish and canoes. The next site was called Te Pito Kura where a round stone talisman was that was seen as a source of power. Afterwards, we drove to the beautiful beach of Anakena. There was white sand, palm trees and waves crashing in. Also, there was a large platform with 6 moai with their stone hats. Each of these moai had intricately carved designs on them as well. It was a very beautiful setting. We were then dropped off at Akivi, which is a site inland and it is the only one on the island where the moai face out to sea, rather than facing inland. We continued walking to the coast road, where we saw some spectaular scenery of high cliffs with thundering waves crashing at their bases. We walked back to Hanga Roa, passing more moai at Kote Ritau, Tahai and Vai Uri. Kote Ritu is particularly interesting because the moai still has its white coral eyes in place. It was cool to see, but at the same time it was quite creepy as it seemed like the moai was staring into our souls.

The next morning, we woke up early and attempted to hitch hike up to Orongo with Jeff, a Texan who was in the hostel with us. Apparently, we look like disreputable people as we were not picked up so we walked up to the top, along with a dog we had met at the bottom who decided that it was his job to guard us the whole way. First, we stopped at Rano Kau, which is a huge volcano crater. Inside, it was full of water and vegetation, creating a very picturesque lake inside the cone of the extinct volcano. We then continued along to Orongo which is on the top of a cliff, 600 metres above the sea below. At the site are the remains of a ceremonial village where the cult of the bird-man was worshiped. Unfortunately, the view was the most impressive part and we were disappointed. Afterwards, we walked back to town and got our passports stamped at the post office. We then tried to hide from the rain as the island gets tropical showers periodically. It is warm rain though, so it isn't that bad. For dinner that night, we went out to La Taverne du Pecheur for dinner. It was run by a large, and that is putting it mildly, Frenchman with a gargantuan mustache. As was expected, the food was amazing. We had tuna sashimi, that was caught just off the island, followed by mahi mahi and exquisitely cooked tuna. Desert was a papaya and raspberry ice cream complete with chantilly, blueberries and roasted almonds. Top it all off with Mahina beer, the microbrewery from Easter Island itself and pisco sours and it was an excellent people. Yes, we are eating our way through South America.

The next day, as our flight was delayed, we took to chairs to the cliff-side and sat there, watching the surf thunderously smash on the rocks in front of us. It was an incredible sight to witness. On leaving, we were each given moai necklaces as a parting gift, which was a really nice touch to end our trip to Easter Island.

Bye for now,
Peter And Valerie

Things we learned in Easter Island:
-It is simply impossible to have fish that is better than those that are brought in daily by fisherman, and are literally carried across the street to the restaurant where one eats.
-Volcanic rock is sharp. Trust us, Peter knows.
-Do not touch the moais. Esteban will get mad.

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