Easter Island Days 4 & 5

Day 4

The early birds of the family went off for an early walk at sunrise, whilst I slept in longer with our snoozy baby! Mary had lots of fun at the play area in the village. I had organised a hire car for the day so that we could explore the whole island. It didn't take us long to get around considering the whole island is so small (25km long and 12.5km wide).

Firstly we went to Rano Raraku, the site where up to the 18th century 95% of the Moai figures were carved over a period of 500 years.  Here 397 Moai remain, never having been transported anywhere. Considered the Moai graveyard, the slopes of the volcanic crater are littered with the giant monolithic sculptures, some standing, some leaning, some half buried and others lying face down. Despite being windy and overcast we had great fun traversing the slopes of the volcano admiring the individuality of all the carvings.


There are several incomplete Moai that can be seen at the quarry. The most notable of these is a giant statue still lying, like in its' grave, never having been excavated. Had it have been finished it would have been twice the size of any other carving, standing 21.6m high and weighing a massive 270 tonnes.

Of course, it would have been rude to leave without climbing up and seeing inside the quarry. Although not wildly exciting to see the lake inside another volcano, it was eerie to watch the patterns made by the wind as it howled across the surface of the lake. The ripples were uniform and pushed the water to the edges where it lapped against the tall, green reeds, and the girls feet! It also afforded us a picturesque view back out over the island. I particularly enjoyed the contrast between the orange colours of the volcanic rock, which framed the ever changing layers of green as the eye moved out further into the distance finally finding the peninsula.


From the quarry we drove on to Ahu Tongariki. Here the landscape is dominated from afar by 15 Moai which have withstood the test of time. They have survived the island's civil wars, along with an earthquake which caused a huge tidal wave, sweeping over the statues causing them to fall and get damaged. A project by the Chilean government and the Japanese in 1994 saw the restoration of these carvings to their former state. It was picturesque to see the Moai against the backdrop of the sea, whilst in the foreground wild horses grazed.

Anakena and its beautiful sweeping beach white idyllic white sand was the last stop on our island tour. Here we had a picnic whilst the sun tried its best to burn off the cloud. Jude made her best attempt at snorkeling, managing to be brave enough to put her head in the water and see a crab. 

The girls were very excited that we had arranged another afternoon for them with their new friends. They could barely get through the door quick enough when we arrived, so Ross and I felt comfortable to enjoy our 3 hours to ourselves. We had decided to drive back to a beach close to Anakena, Ovahe, and spent our time diving again. It was a pretty beach and the water was clean but not nearly as calm.  I swam out, but it didnt take long for the waves to set me off feeling seasick. I saw a number of fish but decided that I needed to go back onto solid ground. Ross helped me swim back safely before going to enjoy a dive by himself.

It was hard to drag the girls away, so Antje kindly invited us to stay for supper. Of course we accepted the invitation to the girls delight. I had just a light bite as I had arranged with Hema to go for dinner and on to a Rapa Nui show. So I left the rest of them enjoying food and play, to dash back and meet up with Hema. She was getting ready to leave as she had bumped into a travel buddy she previously met in San Pedro de Atacama, so arranged that he join us for some food. The restaurant we ate at was very basic, but the food was really good. We had a fish which is caught off the island, sadly none of us remember the name of it, but it was a really good fish. It came with salad and chips and as always some good bread and pebre. 

The show was a lot of fun. We chose not to sit in the front row in an attempt at not getting pulled out on stage to dance. Luckily it worked! It opened with a man wearing no more than a jockstrap, painting himself with the clay based paint they traditionally use. It was quite intimidating with the dimmed light and the strange music, so I was glad that I had left the girls behind. Especially when several of them came on and started jumping around, banging sticks and shouting in a style which was reminiscent of the Haka. 3 stunning ladies danced, depicting the essence of the slim, dark skinned, Polynesian women that live on the island. 

Day 5

On our last morning we woke up very heavy hearted, feeling a great sadness at having to leave the island. In just a few days we had both grown to love the people, their culture and the rich history tied into this petite little island. Another week there would not have gone amiss, and we could see how the missionary families had stayed for so long. But sadly we had to leave. There were a few hours in which we could explore a bit more, so we focused on the town of Hanga Roa which we had neglected. I always enjoy craft work, so set off to walk around the Feria where they both carve and sell typical crafts. I managed to find a gorgeous hand crafted salad bowl and servers, and haggled to a good price, almost half of one I had seen previously. The girls really enjoyed watching the craftsmen at work and were hovering over our crafters shoulder asking many questions. 

We took a last stroll along the sea front back to our hostel, which was a new route for me. This took us past more very beautiful carvings, unusually one had a painted back, so really caught my eye. Mary had seen Hema also strolling along back to the hostel and, never one to forget, insisted that she played hide and seek which had been put off for 3 days! 

Back at our hostel, our host Vicky was getting nervous that we were not allowing ourselves the recommended 2 hours check in time. She was pointing at her watch and repeating "2 hours" as we all loaded our suitcases into her vehicle. As we approached the airport we saw our friends walking to spend their last moments with us whilst we waited for our plane. The girls were so happy and they were given a big bunny as a reminder of their new friends. We climbed on the plane with smiles, and many happy memories of a fabulous trip.