Easter Island

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Day 150 Wednesday 12 August

At sea sailing West South Westerly towards Easter Island seas a bit rough

23c cloudy



After breakfast and an hour and a quarter of Zumba Gail walked and I read. Gail went to choir and then we went to see "Far from the Madding Crowd" it was not bad but I don't know that the ending was what Thomas Hardy actually wrote.



After the movie Heidi came to our room to cut Gail's hair and I went down to the Crooners Bar and read.



We had a pre dinner drink in the cabin and then went to dinner then the show which was a singer named Davidia who I am sure we have seen before. She wasn't bad.



Since the Panama Canal I have read:

The Accusers by Lindsay Davies which was a murder mystery set in Ancient Rome;

Extraordinary Ordinary People by Condoleeza Rice which is the story of her family and their part in her rise from a black girl in highly racist Alabama to Secretary of State. Worth reading;

Remains Silent by Michael Baden & Linda Kenny; and

Silent Predator by Tony Park an Australian author who writes about Africa.



Day 151 Thursday 13 August - 3/4 of a century

At sea sailing west-south-westerly towards Easter Island seas a bit rough and the ship is rocking

23c cloudy



Gail gave me a present of a alpaca jacket when we woke up then we had breakfast in the dining room for a change. Probably won't do that again. We did an hour and a quarter of Zumba, then Gail walked and I read. I went to a lecture on the history and science of matches which was quite interesting and Gail went to choir practice then because they had a special Mediterranean lunch we went to the bistro but it was a bit disappointing.



We played Mahjong then went back to the cabin and spoke to Shani and the twins on Skype which was good. We were trying to arrange the purchase of the tennis tickets amongst other things. Also rang Mick and had a short conversation because there was an echo on the line and he couldn't hear me all that well. When we got back to the cabin there were balloons and a birthday card outside the door and the cabin steward, Diovic, sang Happy Birthday to me.



I got a number of texts and Facebook messages for my birthday which was nice. At 6.30 we went down to the Champagne Bar and met Mark and Christine for a drink. Mark used to be Shani's boss.



At dinner the others on the table have me a bottle of wine, a Pisco Sour apron and a stubby holder (which I really need). At the end of the meal our waiters and some others came over and sang Happy Birthday to me. We watched the end of the show from the back of the theatre. It was a guy called Trevor Night who we had seen on the way over. He was worth another look.



It was a good day.



Day 152 Friday 14 August

At sea still on the same course. Seas a little bit calmer

21c, a little bit of wind.



Did Zumba then Gail went walking and I read a bit then watched the start of Giant on TV but decided I didn't want to watch it. I went down and met Gail after choir and we had a cup of coffee then went To play 500.



As it was a formal night and there was an early show we dressed early then went down to watch The singer Davidia who sang all James Bond songs as they had themed the formal night as James Bond night. After dinner we went to the show which was a production called Bravo. They are down to one male dancer now as the other male dancer injured himself in rehearsal but they did a good job of covering the gaps.



After the show we went to the Crooners Bar and had a dance to the pianist and a nightcap.



Day 153 Saturday 15 August

At sea west-south-easterly towards Easter Island

21c some showers



Sunrise was at 8.15 this morning because even though Easter Island is 2000 nautical miles west from the Chilean Mainland for some reason it uses Chilean time.



We did an hour and a half of Zumba then Gail went for a walk. At 11am we went up to the deck to watch the Bledisloe Cup match. Bad idea.



We had a light lunch after Gail went to choir then watched a matinee performance by Trevor Knight an Australian folk singer. He was good. After that we played the second half of our 500 game from yesterday. We had dinner then I went to watch the movie "Foxcatcher" with Steve Carell. It was an interesting film based on a true story.



The toll levied on the ship for the transit of the Panama Canal was $350,088.



Day 154 Sunday 16 August

Easter Island, Chile. A$1= 500 Chilean Pesos

20c fine, sunny



The sun rose at 8.47 and it was really dark when we got up so we did not see our arrival into the bay. After breakfast we went down to the lounge to get our tender tickets and wait. It took an hour before our number came up and the tender to shore took about 45 minutes.



There was a moai (one of the statues) just near the port so we looked at that then went for a walk up to the town. There were smaller moais along the road but we were not sure how old they were. As we got near the town we could see some moai in the distance so walked up towards them. On the way we went to look at the cemetery which we had been told was worth a look. It was different to most cemeteries because everything was well kept and there were some very ornate, Island style decorations on the graves and the setting was spectacular.



Then we went into the national park where there were 5 moai in a row and two others standing on their own. There were also some lying down because in the 16th Century there was a civil war between the original immigrants called the "Long Ears" because they extended their ear lobes, and the second wave of immigrants, the "Short Ears" who won pushed all the moai over on their faces because they were statues of the Long Ears ancestors and could give the losers power (mana) but if they were on their faces the power would be nullified. Those that are standing have been resurrected. There are only 45 standing of the approximately 900 quarried.



We walked back into town and went to a restaurant and had a milk shake ($6.00 each) then walked back down to the pier for our tour. We met Margaret and Geoff on the pier and they were just going back to the ship. We had met Annette and Ray up at the National Park. It's a small island.



On out tour we went to Ahu Vinapu where some of the largest moai ever built had been tipped over. The walls were very precisely constructed. The next stop was Ahu Akvi where there are 7 moai standing facing the sea which is unusual because they usually face inland. It is believed that they were built to represent the seven young Polynesian explorers who discovered the island, that's why they look out to sea. The last stop was where they used to conduct the Birdman competition to determine the next year's king. It was also the crater of an extinct volcano which was probably the most defined crater we have ever seen.



From there it was back to the ship and line up for a tender which did not take too long. We were just in time to see Jason Day play the last hole of the USPGA, what a great victory. Then we went up to the stern and watched the sailaway. We went to the early show to see Andy Joy do a medley of Billy Joel, Elton John and Peter Allen songs which was really good. We had a quick shower and went to watch the movie "Strangerland" with Nicolle Kidman and Hugo Weaving. Really bad movie. Back in our cabin we watched "The Piano" which was a much better movie.



Day 155 Monday 17 August

At sea sailing 276 degrees towards Pitcairn Island

20c some showers



Slept in a bit so went straight to Zumba having missed Zumba Gold and had breakfast after. Gail went for a walk then choir while I caught up on the blog. We played 500 then had a cup of coffee in the Crooners Bar. We went for a bit of a walk then got ready for dinner and had a pre-dinner drink in our cabin.



After dinner we went to the show and watched Davidia again. We enjoyed it. After the show we went back to the Crooners Bar and had a drink and a dance with Margaret & Geoff and Heidi & Keith.

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