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11th May 2010 |
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Woke up at 8.00 got
ready and went for breakfast by 8.30. I had pancakes with pineapple and
melon as well as bread and jam.
After breakfast I went for a walk around Hanga Roa and stopped off at the
Post Office to get my passport stamped as they do not do this at the
airport.
My tour today starts at 10.00 and is of the West coast of the Island and
will be led by Bill the hotel owner.
First up is Ana Kai Tangata, a cave on the coast known as the cannibal
cave. It is quite steep to get down to it and the sea is very rough
bashing up against the cliffs. The cave is quite big and opens up to the
coast, it is also very high but I don’t think it would have offered much
shelter to its occupants.
Next up was the volcanic caldera of Rano Kau. We stop off at an overlook
that looks down into the crater lake, Bill explains that years ago this is
where all the women used to go once a year and stay for a week or two to
do their laundry. From this viewpoint you could see the full circle of the
volcano.
A very short drive up from here is the old village of Orongo. Orongo was
the centre of the Birdman Cult and here you will find almost 1800
petroglyphs and numerous houses.
This is where the famous Birdman competition took place, basically the
competition involved the strongest members from each Clan descending down
the cliff, swimming a mile to the Motu Nui Island and them wait for the
eggs of the Sooty Tern to be laid and bring one back to present it to his
Clans leader, the leader would then become the Birdman for the next year
and rule over the island for that time.
We then travel back down the road and reach Vinapu, Vinapu features a
female moai statue although it is so badly weathered it is difficult to
tell and some very fine stonework similar to that of the Inca’s. which has
led some people to theorise that the Island was populated from the East
rather than the West and Polynesia (although all the evidence points to
the first inhabitants coming from the West). There is also a number of
fallen moai and topknots here.
We then drop Deb, Cheryl and Laurie off in town before continuing on the
tour. We then end up at Puna Pau which is the topknot quarry where the red
scoria was extracted, carved and transported. There are a number of
abandoned topknots around the quarry and some even have petroglyphs carved
into them.
The last Ahu we visit on the tour today is Ahu Akivi, the first Ahu on the
Island to be restored in 1960. the 108 foot long Ahu features seven moai
facing the setting sun and is belived to represent the seven explorers
sent to scout the Island before the arrival of Hotu Matu’a and is
estimated to have been constructed around 1450.
The final stop of today’s tour is Ana Te Pahu otherwise known as the
banana cave due to the fact that banana trees grow up from the cave floor.
The cave was used in ancient times as a shelter, defence and storage. The
cave has openings at both ends and extends for almost 100 metres. At one
end there is a large water pool that you can hear drops dripping into it.
We then drive back to town and get dropped off at the hotel.
I go and explore the Hanga Roa coast again like I did last night and end
up in the same areas with the moai with the eyes. I eventually go for
dinner at Hakahonu Restaurant and have the local fish with stir fried
vegetables and it was great. I then walk around the town for a bit
visiting the artisan markets and the church before going for an ice cream
which turned out to be huge, almost the size of my head.
To finish the night off I go to Kari Kari which is a traditional dance
show, it lasts for almost an hour and is high energy throughout, they even
get people from the audience to take part, I sink lower in the seat at
that point hoping they ignore me, which they do thankfully.
I go to a store on the way back to the hotel to buy some water for the
next day and go to bed as soon as I get to my room. |
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Pictures Coming Soon |
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