Rapa Nui - Easter Island

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Rapa Nui or Easter Island as it is better known is the world's most remote inhabited island, shrouded in mystery due to the legendary Moai statues and possibly the place the Easter Bunny calls home.
So for these reasons, we decided that leaving Santiago and flying five and a half hours in the direction of home seems worth the effort despite the return flight to Chile and then the flight home. The airlines really need to think about this one....

The flight gave us the opportunity to catch up on our blogging, get our trillions of photos into some kind of order, watch the remaining movie on the Lan inflight entertainment and sample some more excellent Chilean wine.

Touch down came fast as the airstrip is literally on the edge of the island and we were giddy with excitement, especially as Rochelle had always dreamt of visiting here. We were greeted with flower necklaces and whisked away to our accommodation. Please refer to photo evidence and no more shall be said - it was clean at least and the only time we were there was to sleep. We dined by the water on our first night with a magnificent sunset and divine seafood, appreciating the moment and all it's magic.

The following morning led to the discovery that the best way to see the island was by car or quad bike. Now as Greg is know to say
" Kiernan, quad bikes are exceptionally dangerous and kill more people than you would think every year", I was responsible and backed up Taffty's words of wisdom and we chose the car option so there would be no photographic evidence of me doing the wrong thing. Although the quad bikes did look like awesome fun. There was some quiet discussion when we both realized that neither of us had ever driven on the right side of the road before and our chant of " driver must be in the middle" served us well.

Wide open costal roads, amazing sea views with water that was crystal clear as the waves broke made for exceptional backdrop to our search for Moai. We sighted our first Moai statue and were out of the car fast, marveling in its size and the things man can create. We had no idea at this point what amazing sights were to come.

Next stop was the Quarry known as Rano Raraku that was the site where the moai were carved directly from the rock face and today around 397 moai in various stages of carving remain. Moai lie unfinished, some forwards on their faces, some tilted by the elements, some broke during carving and were abandoned. Others stand at towering heights, and others are half buried in the earth. There is a wonder and magic about them and you can feel how this place was central to the Rapanui's belief in ancestor worship. We wander for hours, exclaiming in amazement as each new path or turn brought another wonder and searched for the best photos. We lunched by the sea in a hut packed with locals on empanadas very satisfied with our morning.

The afternoon saw us jumping in the air in front of the famous row of 15 Moai, Ahu Tongariki, that stand forebodingly by the sea facing inland as if they are guarding their people. Whilst doing quite well with the driving we managed a wrong turn and spent the better part of an hour four wheel driving, muttering about our lost sealed road that lead to a much talked about beach. It did provide us with a close encounter with a wild horse, who refused to budge from the road and favored licking the bonnet of the car and pressing his nose to the window. No amount a beeping or engine revving would budged him and we resorted to creeping forward and hoping for no dent in the car. Palm trees, soft white sand and clear aqua water in a protected cove was our reward and we stopped quite a while just to soak it all in, write messages in the sand and take selfies by the water. Please know that it took many attempts to get that shot and there were times we had to pause as we were crying with laughter at how bad we looked in some.

As the island is small, it means that you pass others often as you criss cross to various sites, there were the three French chicks on a hard core tour, the Japanese foursome who took crazy pics at each site, the Korean lady with many a fine hat who sometimes wore two at a time, and the Germans in their socks looking a little grumpy. All of us greeting each other each time we passed, with everyone's faces glowing with pleasure at the amazing things they had seen. We were often asked where we were from, and after replying got many a " of course" in reply. Clearly we are truly Aussie chickas.

When on an island one must dine on seafood and after all the beef consumed in Argentina we still had not had our fill. I have to say the food is so fresh, tasty and cooked to perfection. We have continually ordered two things from the menu at each dinner that are local to the area and then shared so we have sampled some incredible dishes. We have eaten fish we have never heard of, had funny veggies turn up and some odd food combinations, often we point at the spanish and hope for the best. It has always been good and we have sampled many many new things. Watch out boys I have a few new dinner menus planned already!

After our meal we shuffled next door to the cultural show- young and extremely fit Rapanuian's singing and dancing their hearts out to entertain us with their Polyenesian heritage. Great way to end a spectacular day.

The following morning we rose before the sun in an attempt to see it rise but were defeated by heavy cloud cover. Never ones to waste an opportunity we did a lot of sight seeing whilst most of the island was asleep. This meant we had many sites to ourselves bar the roaming wild horses and cattle.

Last stop of the morning was to the Rano Kau crater and Orongo.
Rano kau is a result of a volcanic eruption two and a half million years ago. The crater is enormous, with it's lake being over one km wide and its steep slopping sides are covered with lush plants. It was like looking at something from prehistoric times and I kept expecting dinosaurs to appear, or at the very least the Easter bunny. Orongo is a narrow strip of land where coming of age and other important ceremonies took place, next to shear cliffs that fall away to leave breathtaking views of the ocean. Looking put to see their is nothing but ocean which reinforces how remote the island is.

Happy, content we had seen as much as possible, with some sun and wind burn, with hair out of control due to the at times forceful winds and with Easter island dust on us, we taxied back down the runway on the edge of this magical island that is a once in a lifetime experience and headed back to Chile.

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