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10th May 2010 |
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My first morning on
Easter Island and I am keen to explore, I head over for breakfast at 8.00
but it does not start until 8.30 so head back to my room to read my book
until then.
Breakfast is served by Edith who runs the hotel and I have a cheese
omelette, there is another family there who are leaving today and they
said they have had rain everyday they have been there, I hope that is not
going to be the case for me. A little later, Deb, Cheryl and Lorrie who
arrived the same time as me last night joined us.
After breakfast we talk to Bill, Edith’s husband about what tours we can
take, we decided on the full days South Coast tour that day that will be
led by Chris, an American who now lives on the Island.
We start by getting some water from the gas station and then drive to the
first site.
The first stop is Ahu Hanga Te’e, a site with eight fallen Moai and their
Pukao (topknots). Some of these topknots fell into the sea when the Moai
where toppled but were recovered in 1986. You can really see the red
colour of these topknots. In front of the of the ahu is a pania (a
ceremonial stone circle).
Next on our tour is Ahu Akahanga, as we arrive a local seller has set up a
stall by the entrance and Chris explains the significance of some of the
local items such as the Rongo Rongo tablet which contains ancient Rapa Nui
writing.
Ahu Akahanga is also known as the “platform of the king” because,
according to legend, the tomb of Hoto Matu’a is nearby. There is 4 Ahu, 12
Moai and 8 Pukao, a boat ramp, earth ovens and a small cave that we went
it that contained lots of spiders on the ceiling.
We then went to what I think is the most impressive site on the Island,
Rano Raraku. Rano is the Easter Island statue quarry and not only are
there cavities in the volcanic rock where the moai were carved and removed
but many moai are still in various states of completion.
This is where we had to pay the $60 park entry fee which is good for five
days so hopefully will not need to pay anything again it has recently gone
up from $10 which it was for many years. I don’t mind paying the fee if it
helps to preserve the statues.
We walk around the quarry following the designated paths and are not
allowed to touch any of the statues, we spend a bit of time here exploring
all the moai. Chris explains that the statues are actually in pits buried
up to their necks and only 1/3 of the figures are visible, this was so the
sculptors could work on the statues back and face.
We walk around the hill a bit to see a moai still attached to the cliff,
Chris shows us the tool that the sculptors used to carve the statues; it
was basically a hard bit of stone that the used to bang against the soft
stone of the moai. We continued to walk around and saw the kneeling moai
which has had to have a fence put around it due to people having their
pictures taken on it’s knee causing it to get damaged, someone has even
carved their initials into its back.
We then walk a bit higher and come across “El Gigante” the largest moai
ever carved at 65 feet and estimated to weigh 250 tons, it is still in
it’s construction phase and would have been impossible to move if
complete.
To finish our tour at Rano Raraku we walk up to the craters rim to see the
fresh water lake that is inside. There is also a number of moai in here as
well. On the shore of the lake there are a number of reed beds.
We walk back to the bus and move on to our next site, but before we do I
have a quick look around the shop but to be honest it is not very good.
We then call at Ahu Tongaiki, probably one of the most photographed Ahu’s
on the Island and the biggest. It contains 15 moai that have been recently
restored after the Ahu was destroyed in the 1960’s by a Tsunami. On the
approach to the Ahu you pass by a lonely moai know as the “Travelling Moai”
due to the fact it went on a tour around Japan a few years ago. The size
of the 15 statues is immense and with them being on top of their platform
increases their scale as you look up at them. There is also some
petroglyphs carved into the ground in front of the Ahu showing a turtle.
The penultimate archaeological site of the tour is Ahu Te Pito Kura which
has the largest moai that was ever moved at 32 feet and 82 tons. It is
also said that Te Pito Kura was the last statue to be pulled down,
probably some time after 1838. we walk over to the left side towards the
bay where there is a spherical rock about three feet in diameter with four
smaller rocks around it. Legend states that Hotu Matu’a brought this stone
from his original homeland. The stone is said to have special powers, in
fact if you pass a compass over the stone the needle changed direction,
which we tested out, I even tried it with my iphone and it did move
around.
The final stop on the tour was Anakena beach. We first went to look at the
platform with seven moai on it. These are some of the best preserved
examples of moai on the Island as they remained protected and undisturbed
buried in the sand until they were recently discovered and restored. This
is also the site where the only moai eye was found and is on display in
the museum which I will be visiting later in the trip.
After we finish touring around the moai we have some free time on the
beach so I go and dip my feet in the water for a while, the water was
quite warm and the sand was very white.
We then get the minibus back to the hotel; it takes us about 20-25 minutes
to get there.
I then spend the rest of the evening exploring the town of Hanga Roa. I go
down to the coast and walk about down there for a while. There are moai
platforms everywhere and I stay by the one with the moai with the eyes
until sunset. On my way back into town I am followed by a friendly dog. I
spend quite a bit of time looking for somewhere to eat, my number one
choice “Au Bout Du Monde” is closed so end up at a restaurant called
Kanahau where I bump into the Canadian ladies so have my diner with them,
I have the local fish on a bed of sweet potato, it tasted great.
I them get some water from a store and head back to the hotel and go to
bed. |
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Pictures Coming Soon |
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