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Published: March 5th 2008
Night and Day together at Sunrise
... Ahu Tongariki, East Coast, Rapa NuiThis is fascinating stuff. Really. Truly. Believe us. It is.
Here we are (or he we were - by the time some of you read this). Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Isla de Pacques, Isla de Pascua ... even Eastern Island if you believe the car hire company. What a bloody marvellous place (first swear word - within the first 100 words). 2000 km from Pitcairn Island (the next place of population), 4100km from Tahiti and 3700 km to Chile. This is the most isolated, inhabited island in the world.
The history thing first. Are you sitting comfortably?
Then we´ll begin (Codo/Vicks sit on your hands or something).
King Hotu Matua turned up to this place - from the west - in between 400 and 1200 AD. Already you can see that things are a little sketchy. He also arrived on Anakena beach. Whether this is because this is the biggest beach and provides the most room for the annual festivities is open to question. Let´s not get too cynical just yet.
During the early years - the king of the island - the Ariki ruled using the forces of Mana and Tapu. Mana was a supernatural
There is no truth in the rumour
... that Nath is not eating properly power - essentially Good Luck and prosperity, which was the Ariki´s to control. Tapu (from which our word Taboo is derived - after Captain Cook heard the word when he was here) - was used to control the islanders. If an area, or a person or even a concept was Tapu (again - as defined by the Ariki) then an islander must not get involved. Pretty simple.
OK
Many people think that what happened on Easter Island is what is currently happening to the world. Essentially the tribes were more and more prosperous and the population grew. This led to more Moai being built and resources being depleted. Eventually the trees ran out - boats could no longer be built for fishing and Moai could not be transported. War broke out (prob around 1500) and the Moai were felled (both by rival tribes and by their own tribes who were troubled that the statues were not doing their job - and not bringing Mana).
When Jacob Roggeveen (Dutch) first arrived to the Island - on Easter Sunday 1722 (get it?) things were already pretty bad. Cannabilism had begun and Moai were strewn around the island. Subsequent visits
Nathan Surfing at Hanga Roa
.. we know you´ll believe what you want to believe anyway ... from explorers (Gonzalez from Spain (1770), our "friend" Captain Cook from Britain (1774), La Perouse from France (1786) and Peruvian slave traders in 1862) didn´t bring any more luck. Of course these people and events led to disease - smallpox in particular. Rapa Nui culture was all but destroyed - particularly by the Peruvians who captured most of the educated (including the religious leaders)
By the time Chile took control of the island in 1888 and then the British turned up in 1903 (with sheep) there were only 110 Rapa Nui remaining (from a population of 20,000 at its height). Of course the British being the British put a fence around these "interesting" natives and ordered them not to venture outside this boundary. Good thinking eh?
Now of course - tourism is what it is all about. Some Moai (but by no means all Moai - there are 887 "registered") have been restored and tourism businesses are all around....
Of course - everyone knows about these Moai. But to us - this is not the thing that we are taking away from Easter Island (however mystical these creatures are). This place is so, so beautiful. Shaped by
Lizzy liked the look of the local Rugby Team ...
... but went for the sun instead. Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island 3 magnificent volcanoes (Rano Aroi - the biggest, Rano Kau (Maunga Terevaka) and Poike) the Pacific Ocean tries its level best to smash the place every day. The waves are huge and the sun is hot. The stars are bright.
British Incas - emotional... who would have guessed.
That should be enough to give you a flavour ... get on t´internet if not ...
Day 58 - February 27th 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Nathan had 2 hours sleep last night. This is bad as Nathan likes sleep. Lots. It may have had something to do with a boozy night with Debbie, Brett and two of their traveller chums. Rachel and Nick. Great night.
Which is no consolation when you are facing 2 flights, 2 sets of time difference, 5 hours waiting for a connection in an airport with limited facilities and a 20 hour day large parts of which are in a tin can thousands of feet in the sky. Nathan´s eyes gave up and went red. The super goggle glasses came out. Immigration officers had several takes before deciding that Nathan James Smith (Great British Citizen) was actually Nathan
Gutted
... hewn from rock and ready to move from the quarry. Then war stopped the whole thing ... James Smith (Great British Citizen).
First flight was 25 minutes - over the Andes from Mendoza into Chile. A woman flew the plane. Dreadful flight, slow but bumpy, 3 wrong turns and we tupped 3 747s in Santiago Airport. Don´t think she noticed.
We wondered for some time about time difference. That´s the sort of thing you do when you´re sitting waiting (and then waiting some more) in airports (albeit in Starbucks). That and wishing you could bottle these wasted 5 hours for some other day - when you need it.
Someone somewhere must lose out in time zone land. In Argentina you can fly from East to deep West - for 4 hours - without a time difference. Fly 25 minutes into Santiago from Mendoza and you´re hit with an hour change. Fly another 5 hours out across the Pacific - into Easter Island - and you are hit with a mere 2 hour change. Someone hasn´t thought this through (particularly as it doesn´t get light on Easter Island until 0830/0845 - and it´s summer) ....
We landed in Mataveri airport, Rapa Nui at 22:20 local time - on a massive LAN 767 (2 seats
What are you looking at?
Nath and Liz at Rano Raraku quarry, Easter Island - 3 seast - 2 seats configuration). A bit dangerous when you´re landing on a tiny island you may think. Until you realise that the runway here was extended with NASA´s help in 1986 - as an emergency landing strip for the shuttle - should the need ever arise. We were ok anyways...
Yasmin from Te Ora was waiting for us - with welcome flower garlands. They felt like victory wreaths. Yasmin showed us around (5 minutes) and then took pity on us and sent us to bed in our wonderful room (the best yet Tom?) complete with a balcony over looking the Pacific Ocean and underneath the bright bright stars. This place even had a kitchen ... we weren´t having to go out and could get rid of this fat which you all seem to think we have.
Said goodnight to Yasmin´s boyfriend - Jessiah on our way upstairs.
It was almost all too much. But we went to sleep.
Today´s Easter Egg was an After 8 Mint Easter Egg. Not only because it was After 8 when we got here (this is all very clever stuff you know) - but it was also "MINT!" One Man and his (borrowed) Dog
.. Michigan shows us the way (and defends us) in Hanga Roa (because we eventually arrived - the way we got here was rubbish)
Day 59 - February 28th 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Woke to the roar of the Pacific 20 yards from our window. Wave after giant wave - trying to take out the island... It was beautiful (although Nathan had to put his glasses on to see it).
Brett and Debbie (whose honeymoon bed we were now in) told us that the first day should be a museum day. Nathan whooped, Lizzy groaned ... forlornly looking at the blue sky and sun. Nath won and we went to the museum - with Michigan.
Michigan is a (German Shepherd) dog like no other. He is Te Ora´s but he acts like your personal guard. Brett and Debbie had told us about him - and here he was. Wandering about 10 yards in front of you he will bark and attack other dogs, cars, horses or whatever he sees as a threat. "Attack" is a strong word - but he gives them a bloody good warning. He is ultra cool anyways.
Museum was ok. Sort of. It told us what we needed
to know anyway - and helpfully sold you the entire exhibition as a book. Which was useful when writing the stuff up above.
Went to the "supermarket" to get our supplies. Chocolate (lots), cream, butter, sugar, sweets, crisps and beer (lots). Marvellous.
Went back to the room - the heat thing was happening again - not sure of the temperature but it must have been high (30c?). Had a long siesta which kind of went on ... and on .... and then (sort of) on ....
All ... the ... way ... to bedtime ......
Today´s Easter Egg was a Wispa (sic) Easter Egg. Waves whispered (kind of) and we went to a museum in which everyone whispered. Ok ok ... tenuous we know - but you´re still reading this stuff. Day 60 - February 29th 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Today was a tour day. We went on a tour around Easter Island (actually - more just down the east coast). Our guide was a very clearly polynesian lady (powerful) called Andrea. Let us first say that this lady was excellent - really knew her stuff and we would
The Rapa Nui
... found it easy to grow Moai. Rano Raraku, Easter Island definitely recommend Rapa Nui Travel Ltd to anyone who cared to ask us.
However.
She was an out and out saleswoman - which entertained us as we think she thought we couldn´t see it. She was a saleswoman in the sense of - plough your money into this island please (which of course we have been very happy to do - choccys and crisps (and beer) are very very expensive you know) - but she was also a saleswoman about the legend of the place. It was very funny.
We saw our first (fallen) Moai of the day at Ahu Vaihu (where Ahu means Moai Platform). Andrea gave us some of the history and legends. She really did know what she was talking about. We then went to Ahu Akahanga. There were more fallen (or were they pushed?) Moai here.
We saw traditional (but derelict) Boat Houses - so called because of their shape - where tribes had once lived in the shadow of their Moai. We saw how the doorways were so small so that only one person at once could enter at any given time - for security. We also saw a cave which
Personally..
... we think the middle one looks a bit like Darth Vadar was thought to have been built during the conflicts (during war you go for the thatched roof first we were told).
It was in the cave that Andrea started talking mystical about Tapu, Mana and the legends of the past. She told us how the elders of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia have mystical powers. How they can look at you and tell you what you´re thinking. Inca Nath (in particular thinks this is b******s) particularly because she exemplified her point by telling us that once a Maori elder told her that she had Polynesian blood - without her having to say a thing. Think of your typical Maori Lady (powerful). This is Andrea. Liz didn´t really care - she wanted to get out of the cave as this island has Black Widow Spiders (and she could smell cobwebs)...
We went back to the bus - where Nathan had to buy a hat as he´d forgotten his (the bus turned up on time and we panicked). Nath now has a nice collection of hats - they are available to purchase when he gets back. During this purchase Andrea pointed out many other things that "aren´t available in Hanga Roa".
Umbilico del Mondo
... Inca Nath had something to say about this .. Te Pito Kura, Easter Island Sorry Andrea - we have already seen all this stuff in Hanga Roa.
We then headed to the truly magnificent Ahu Tongariki. Fully restored with the help of a Japanese company (Tadano). What a great idea. This truly gives you a view of the splendour of these things and the awe in which they must have been held. 15 of these giants - standing there - watching inland over their subjects. No worries everyone. We have PLENTY of piccys.
Then we headed into the quarry (Rano Raraku) where the Moai were carved. Many many Moai remain here - half carved, dropped, on their way out of the quarry. Only 1 out of 3 Moai ever built made it to an Ahu. This place is eery - like a graveyard. It´s even as though these things grew out of the ground. Moai were carved on their backs - out of the bedrock. They were then lifted to the vertical - ready to transport (the most likely form of transport was apparently the way you transport a fridge - so that the Moai "walked" to the Ahu). Many didn´t get past this point - and so erosion has put them
Moai doing his Angel Impersonation
... Ahu Tahai, Hanga Roa. At sunset (of course) half underground. Very very odd indeed. And sad. In so much as you can get sad about hundreds of tonnes of volcanic rock.
Andrea encouraged us to buy a 3 inch piece of mahogany from this lady "whose son is the best carver on the island". All for US$160.
We finished the day by going to the beach at Anakena. On our way we went to a mystical magnetic stone - Andrea of course played it up. It was the Umbilico del Mondo of the Rapa Nui. Nath thought it felt very hot because of the (very) hot sun. Apparently everyone else thought it was magic. It made a compass move around like Jack Sparrow´s compass.
Betsy got her time on the beach (about 2 hours) - Nath got to play in the sea with the big waves. Although they weren´t very big by this time. It still reminded him of the time he played in the big waves with Rachie in Nice.
Got back to Hanga Roa on the bus making sure we didn´t hit one of the many wild horses which roam this island freely. Little did Nath and Liz know that these wild
Cliffs at Ahu Tepeu
... a bit like the Great Orm (so Lizzy says .. which is just short sighted in Nath´s view ... you come all this way ......) horses would cause them a few frights later in the week ... .
Today´s Easter Egg was a Mini Egg Easter Egg. Cracked, crumbling, incomplete .. the birth place of the Moai. We should get you to pay to read this we think ... Day 61 - March 1st 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Reading the guides - there was much talk about the finest coastal walk in the South Pacific. Bring it on we thought. No roads, no paths, no restrictions. Set off north of Ahu Tepeu and keep walking until you reach the beach.
So - at 0630 the alarm went off so that we could meet our taxi to take us to the start of the walk. The taxi driver was concerned. Not only because he was driving his car down a road just short of Hesaltine Lane vintage - but because this walk was 11,333 metres long (don´t ask - we didn´t because we couldn´t - but he accurate on his calculator when showing us this) - and took 7 hours.
We had a lovely time anyways. And Nath had decided to start his tanning. Less
Sunset from Hanga Roa
... isn´t it nice ... than 4 weeks left - time to get some colour into those rolls of flab.
We walked via several Ahu (all in very bad state of repair) - via a remote farm. Where they were doing real man´s work - herding wild horses - with a man and two girls. Without saddles.
We walked, we stopped, we admired the views, we ate, we drank, we laughed. And then after 3 hours we reached the beach. Lizzy was delighted. Nath was concerned. Building his tan up slowly didn´t involved sitting on a beach for 4 and a half hours uninterrupted and without shade. He sat there cursing the 7 hour doom mongers.
Got a taxi back at 1630. This was a farther distance and the fare was cheaper. It must have been downhill.
Got back to find a Canadian couple had arrived at Te Ora. Geoffrey and Margaret. They seemed exceptionally friendly.
Went up into town to do a little shopping. Michigan came along. When we hit the main street Michigan turned out to be a clever doggy (but also perhaps a bit of a fraud). He was attacked by two larger doggies. Before they got
Cragg Vale, Hebden Bridge
... Yorkshire, England (a bit like Anakena in Easter Island too - admittedly) to him - Nathan realised that something was wrong as these two dogs were running very fast towards us .... before Nathan could warn Michigan - Nathan realised that Michigan had seen the danger very very early and was running ... very very fast ... all the way home ... Good boy.
Invited to an art exhibition this evening by Yasmin and Jessiah. Met at 8pm for a beer with some of the others going along. Noticed that Geoffrey and Margaret didn´t listened to a word that you said to them. They looked straight through you. Mildly annoyed.
Took the car the 2-3 miles to the Museum. Got out and saw that Michigan had chased the car the whole way. He was tired. We thought it was a cultured cat not dog?
Lizzy saw a shooting star. Much to Geoffrey´s annoyance. Talking of annoyance ....
Today´s Easter Egg was a Yorkie Easter Egg. Today was not for girls. A 7 hour marathon walk and the herding of wild horses. Nath also decided to do some surfing... Day 62 - March 2nd 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Another piece of
A Man At One with his Machine
... Nath and his Honda before the disagreement. Hanga Roa, Easter Island advice from Brett and Debbie was to get a quad bike. Priceless bit of advice. Brilliant.
Today we picked up our Honda Monster. Semi Automatic ... 5 gears .... err... and it went quite fast too. Nathan asked about insurance. They didn´t "do" insurance. Ok. Helmets? No ... no helmets. One quad for 2 people? Yes. That´s fine. All flouting the rules which were pretty clearly laid out on the warning signs on the bikes themselves. However - this is Rapa Nui and the rules are different. There aren´t any.
First port of call for the grand road tour was up to the Rano Kau volcano. Beautiful. Simple.
Within the crater is now a lake - and plenty of varied vegetation. On the rim of the crater is the ancient village of Orongo. When things started to go wrong in Rapa Nui the cult of the birdman began. Each spring islanders descended on this village to celebrate this cult. Whoever could swim out to one of the islets (Motu Nui) and bring back the first egg from the Sooty Tern (Sterna Fuscata) could live in ceremonial isolation for the rest of the year. Not quite sure about
Bird Man
... from which Condor Man was surely born ... this. They seemingly painted this guy orange/red and he couldn´t wash himself for a whole year (someone else did it for him). Will have to do a little more reading to see why this was a good thing ...
Nevertheless - the views from up there were breathtaking ... and the weather ... again ... was great.
Went back to the hotel - to be told by Geoffrey and Margaret that they had had a better morning than us (not nice I know - but these two will not spoil our holiday).
Went to some more Moai this afternoon on the way to the beach - Ahu Akivi and then also Puna Pau - the quarry where the Rapa Nui made the red "Top Knot" hats that some of the Moai wore.
Nath´s tan offensive continued as he wore no top when driving the quad. Not good when you´re on very very dusty tracks ... which makes everything go a very orange sort of colour. Had to wash in the sea.
Came back for the sunset at Ahu Tahai, 5 minutes from our hotel. Geoffrey and Margaret followed us - and then proceeded to give
Rano Kau Volcano
.. with water in it. It doesn´t work any more you see us instructions about how best to take a photo - which apparently consisted of turning your camera onto "Sunset" mode.
Made our own pizza for tea. Full of goodness.
Today´s Easter Egg was a Chocolate Orange Egg. Orange if you´re the bird man ... orange colour after riding a quad bike... Day 63 - March 3rd 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Confidence is a good thing. But not always.
We got up at the crack of dawn, literally (0640) to go back to Ahu Tongariki for sunrise this morning. This ought to take about 20 minutes on the quad.
Geoffrey and Margaret had invited themselves to come and told us that we should go in convoy. We set off without them. We were concerned that it was starting to get lighter on the east side.
Nathan was going a little too quickly, admittedly. And it was dark (of course). But it was getting lighter all the time.
Lizzy knew something was wrong when Nathan started saying sh*t, sh*t. She knew something was more wrong when only 2 wheels of the 4 were on the ground anymore.
Sitting on an Ahu is over rated
... this way you get to see the Ocean .... Rano Raraku, Easter Island Nathan thought they were going to hit the bank as the corner started to get more severe. The next thing we knew - was that the road was still there in front of us and we were ok. This still constitutes a near death experience.
Got to the Ahu and 10 minutes afterwards - our Canadian chums arrived. We thought we were going in convoy? The best shot is from over here. Not there. Here. Oh yes. This is a great shot. You didn´t get that one did you?
Getting more irritating now.
Went back after sunrise via the quarry at Rano Raraku. Inside this quarry (being a volcano) is another lake. We went inside and were all alone - apart from wild horses drinking their breakfast - before the tourists arrive. Tourists hate tourists you know.
Had breakie - and a long rest (all this sun rise and sun set thing is tiring). Geoffrey turned up and asked Nathan to take Margaret to the crater at about 3pm. Presumably Geoffrey was going to walk there first - but Nathan didn´t ask.
Nathan thought about the earlier accident. If Branston was here ... she would
Chilling at the Beach
... Moai at Ahu Nau Nau, Anakena Beach, Easter Island fake an accident he thought. Instead he made an excuse and took Betsy to the beach. A slightly different beach just around the corner from Anakena - Ovahe. This involved a 20 minute quad ride. All good fun.
No one was at the beach. No one. We had it to ourselves. The tan offensive is going well.
Then a cow came hurtling down the path - with 4 calves in tow. The cow walked right up to us - as if to ask what the hell we thought we were doing on her beach. She then realised that the water was salty - and disappeared again. All very bizarre.
This evening we were headed up to the highest point on the island - for a sunset bonanza. Where you can apparently see stars on the east before the sun has set in the west. It is spectacular. We were told.
Readers of this blog may well know that Nathan and Liz were once avid fans of Ray Mears. We of course aren´t any more. Well in response to this snub - we can only think that Ray Mears has been on the blower to someone. All
Someone call a Fire Engine
... it´s on fire!! Ahu Tahai, Hanga Roa, Easter Island his tips and thoughts have been erased from our memories. Without us knowing.
On the way to the hike we stopped at the hostel of a couple of Swiss guys (Peter and Danielle) who were kind enough to give us their snorkels and masks for the French Polynesian trip. Lizzy put these in her bag and we carried on our way.
Nathan stalled the bike in the car park in 4th gear. He didn´t think much of it at the time when he couldn´t get the bike started again. Probably a little hot. It needs a rest. We followed the sign which said Maunga Terevaka 4km. A short jaunt up here. No time at all.
What a load of bobbins.
It took us an hour and a quarter to get up there. And when we got up there - Ray Mears had arranged for someone to light a grass fire -so we couldn´t see anything. And the sunset - which was just starting was rubbish.
Lizzy was cold in her strappy top and shorts. We hadn´t brought any warm gear. Again - Ray Mears had erased this type of common sense without us being aware.
We think we probably would ..
... do exactly what we think he is telling us We had beer though.
We set off back down before the sunset - as we had passed several skittish wild horses which liked to gallop around the uplands. Not good when you´re scaring them in the dark. Ray probably had them arranged perfectly. Add to this the fact that there are black widow spiders in the grass. Oh good.
We put our head torches on (thanks Tillo) - and set off. In the trees, in the dusk, eyes stared at you - and as we entered the forest - things were pretty scary (for Lizzy, Nathan was ok (of course)).
Relief when we got back to our bike. A bit cold.
Even more relief when the bike started and we got on our way. We were overtaken by a car about 500 metres away from the little car park.
And then the bike died. Like. We were going at 60km/h and then it just stopped .... we pulled the bike to the edge of the road and wondered what to do.
There we were. In shorts and a t-shirt with a bag full of beer and two snorkels. Stranded right in the centre of
the most isolated island on God´s earth. We could hear Ray Mears laugh.
We set off walking. And after 15 minutes - we thumbed a lift from a family of Rapa Nui. We asked them to take us to Hanga Roa - in our best Spanish - and we got going. Nathan thought the driver was going to go to the police when he offered her the equivalent of a pound for the lift.
Got back to the hotel - where Yasmin called the hire place. And this is the real beauty of the place - they arrived at 2245 - took the keys, aplogised profusely to us and then went to pick up the bike. They even let us off filling the bike up with petrol. Yasmin has since told us that the bike had actually run out of petrol - but because the hire place told us that we wouldn´t need to fill up they were letting us off filling it up ...
Not sure why the lights didn´t work then ... but all is well that ends well ...
Today´s Easter Egg was a Crunchie. Nearly crunch this morning, definitely crunch this afternoon Spellbinding
... and slightly soppy. Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island ...
Day 64 - March 4th 2008 - Hanga Roa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile Yasmin encouraged us to chill out today. We were tiring her out just watching us come and go.
So we did - and Lizzy went to the small beach in Hanga Roa and did some shopping. Nathan was building his tan up slowly so went backwards and forwards - and tried to write a blog ... but failed (no inspiration). Michigan came to the beach for a while ... and then went home ... we had an ice cream ...
Geoffrey and Margaret left today. We will not comment.
Got back to the hotel to find a rock band playing next door. The set lasted 5 songs ... Got an early night ...
Today´s Easter Egg was a Bounty Easter Egg. Palm trees and a beach. Easy Day 65 - March 5th 2008 - Pape´ete, Tahiti, French Polynesia Got up early and went running. For an hour. Felt great - really great. Fatter AND Fitter.
Packed and have just spent the last 4 hours ... doing ... this ... blog....
Tonight we leave Easter Island - and fly to Pape´ete in French Polynesia. Another 5 hours on a plane - arriving only 1 hours after we left (time wise). Nathan will probably leave his glasses close to hand. Just in case those eyes start to play games ...
Today´s Easter Egg was a Rolo Easter Egg. As in last Rolo ... and we love this place...
Roll on French Polynesia ... you have something to live up to ...
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Stephie B
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Speccy Four Eyes
In a similar style to Jerry Maguire "You had me at hello", I must confess "You lost me on all the history". However, it is late and I am exhausted so will return to learn and re-read once more another day. Now then, I have known Nathan since I was 19, that's a good 11.5 years (heck), and I have never once seen him in these legendary spectacles. Everyone knows contact lenses aren't the be all and end all. Come on Lizzy, let's be having a photo of him on here. In the Dunelm crew, I have the next worst eyesight for sure so I make this request not in some attempt to find misfortune to giggle at (as if), merely because I feel it would make me a dearer friend. Bobbins is a superb word and one I shall be mostly using tomorrow. Now all that talk of Easter eggs is making me hungry. Midnight feast time. Until next time, adios gypsies xxxx