April 7 Day 51
We got up a little later than planned and so Meg didn't get to the Easter Island Sunday service that she wanted to. After breakfast, we got the keys to the truck and an invite to join our hosts for a bbq at 5 pm.
This was only my fourth time driving a standard (all the automatics were monster suvs which cost twice as much) but the traffic was light over the few roads that exist on the island so it wasn't a problem.
The first site we visited was the quarry where they made the moia hats, which were consistently made of red, bubbly volcanic rock. Some large ones littered the ground and the hill had obviously been mined but there wasn't a whole lot more to it. The views of the surrounding countryside were nice, though.
Our second stop was to a group of 7 moia in a field. It sort of felt like being in Egypt and seeing your tenth temple. They were impressive but once you look at them it was pretty much time to go.
We had a long drive across the island back to Ranu Rirake to hike up and see the inside of the volcano. We weer only supposed to be allowed in there once but the gatekeeper let us in again, which was nice. What we were told was a steep 30 minute hike was a 10 minute stroll which we could easily have done on our tour. The inside of the volcano had a large number of moia sitting around (apparently these are the earliest ones). It also had a dried up lake full of tall, dark grass and some nice places to sit and have your lunch. You could imagine how many statues had been taken from the chewed up edges of the caldera.
After walking back we took some pictures of the site from the parking lot. The buses hadn't arrived yet so there were only about 20 people there. Along the driveway were a few statues which had been left there after a short drag from the quarry.
Next, we headed to where Meg wanted to see the sunset, the row of 15 moia, but we were told it was closing at 5:30 and the sunrise was what you came to see here. The sunset was to be better at the other end of the island.
We drove up to the beach area, this time with proper towels and attire, and found a spot in the shade. We had our lunch watching people splashing about and then took turns having swims. The water was a perfect temperature and so clear you thought you could put your feet down but the water was actually far over your head. Only a few people swam out far, most people played in the waves which regularly broke close to the beach.
After hanging out awhile, we headed back and were surprised that the sand was comfortable to walk on, not the expected scorching surface.
On the drive back we stopped at a spot that had a largest petroglyph on the island and many others. They were so eroded that if we didn't have the signs there to show us what the patterns were we wouldn't have seen them. As we left, a desolate looking hitchhiker asked us for a lift and so we gave him one. He was Italian, so he and Meg had lots to chat about and we dropped him off at the platform of 15.
We had one more stop on the way back at a platform where they left all of the moia knocked over. What was even more impressive was the coastline, which was constantly being battered by huge waves that hadn't seen an island in thousands of kilometres.
On our way back into town we were stopped by the police, who kept us for a few minutes but only wanted our licence plate and info. We then gassed up the vehicle and headed back.
We had time to freshen up before the bbq, 5 o'clock wasn't hard and fast. The language gap was deep but we managed to have some communication as they heated the wood for the bbq, made a salad and put the meat on. We sipped beer and made small talk using the few words we could make the other understand. He showed some of his carvings he had made and book where he was presented as being a local artisan and fisherman.
The other couple staying there joined us and we got started with the meal. We brought a nice bottle of wine from our winery trip but we opened their bottle first, which was completely corked. I was a good sport about drinking it, as our host was glad to have someone to drink with and kept refilling my glass. Later on, he wanted to open our bottle but the evening was done and we dissuaded him by bringing our already open bottle from our room. I split what was left with him, but he immediately poured some Coke into it, which he said was good for his singing voice. We just wished we hadn't brought such a nice wine to the event.
The food was excellent, with chicken, chorizo, beef, pork all being delicious as well as a local fish (pesc), which was among the tastiest I've ever had. We ate the meat with a good salad and french fries and kept having more meat put onto our plates.
After most of the eating had stopped, our host, who had been in several bands, got out some instruments. He started with the accordion and then traded for a guitar and a local 8-stringed ukulele (with doubled strings like a bazouki). He did a bunch of songs and was very good, his playing of everything was excellent. We did a version of Barrett's Privateers, which he liked, but the rest of the songs were his. Meg was asked to put on a grass skirt and dance for one number, then the other woman staying there did the same. We were stuffed and entertained and the whole thing was a great opportunity that we were glad we took.
We went to bed spent and slept well on our last night on Easter Island.
We got up a little later than planned and so Meg didn't get to the Easter Island Sunday service that she wanted to. After breakfast, we got the keys to the truck and an invite to join our hosts for a bbq at 5 pm.
This was only my fourth time driving a standard (all the automatics were monster suvs which cost twice as much) but the traffic was light over the few roads that exist on the island so it wasn't a problem.
The first site we visited was the quarry where they made the moia hats, which were consistently made of red, bubbly volcanic rock. Some large ones littered the ground and the hill had obviously been mined but there wasn't a whole lot more to it. The views of the surrounding countryside were nice, though.
Our second stop was to a group of 7 moia in a field. It sort of felt like being in Egypt and seeing your tenth temple. They were impressive but once you look at them it was pretty much time to go.
We had a long drive across the island back to Ranu Rirake to hike up and see the inside of the volcano. We weer only supposed to be allowed in there once but the gatekeeper let us in again, which was nice. What we were told was a steep 30 minute hike was a 10 minute stroll which we could easily have done on our tour. The inside of the volcano had a large number of moia sitting around (apparently these are the earliest ones). It also had a dried up lake full of tall, dark grass and some nice places to sit and have your lunch. You could imagine how many statues had been taken from the chewed up edges of the caldera.
After walking back we took some pictures of the site from the parking lot. The buses hadn't arrived yet so there were only about 20 people there. Along the driveway were a few statues which had been left there after a short drag from the quarry.
Next, we headed to where Meg wanted to see the sunset, the row of 15 moia, but we were told it was closing at 5:30 and the sunrise was what you came to see here. The sunset was to be better at the other end of the island.
We drove up to the beach area, this time with proper towels and attire, and found a spot in the shade. We had our lunch watching people splashing about and then took turns having swims. The water was a perfect temperature and so clear you thought you could put your feet down but the water was actually far over your head. Only a few people swam out far, most people played in the waves which regularly broke close to the beach.
After hanging out awhile, we headed back and were surprised that the sand was comfortable to walk on, not the expected scorching surface.
On the drive back we stopped at a spot that had a largest petroglyph on the island and many others. They were so eroded that if we didn't have the signs there to show us what the patterns were we wouldn't have seen them. As we left, a desolate looking hitchhiker asked us for a lift and so we gave him one. He was Italian, so he and Meg had lots to chat about and we dropped him off at the platform of 15.
We had one more stop on the way back at a platform where they left all of the moia knocked over. What was even more impressive was the coastline, which was constantly being battered by huge waves that hadn't seen an island in thousands of kilometres.
On our way back into town we were stopped by the police, who kept us for a few minutes but only wanted our licence plate and info. We then gassed up the vehicle and headed back.
We had time to freshen up before the bbq, 5 o'clock wasn't hard and fast. The language gap was deep but we managed to have some communication as they heated the wood for the bbq, made a salad and put the meat on. We sipped beer and made small talk using the few words we could make the other understand. He showed some of his carvings he had made and book where he was presented as being a local artisan and fisherman.
The other couple staying there joined us and we got started with the meal. We brought a nice bottle of wine from our winery trip but we opened their bottle first, which was completely corked. I was a good sport about drinking it, as our host was glad to have someone to drink with and kept refilling my glass. Later on, he wanted to open our bottle but the evening was done and we dissuaded him by bringing our already open bottle from our room. I split what was left with him, but he immediately poured some Coke into it, which he said was good for his singing voice. We just wished we hadn't brought such a nice wine to the event.
The food was excellent, with chicken, chorizo, beef, pork all being delicious as well as a local fish (pesc), which was among the tastiest I've ever had. We ate the meat with a good salad and french fries and kept having more meat put onto our plates.
After most of the eating had stopped, our host, who had been in several bands, got out some instruments. He started with the accordion and then traded for a guitar and a local 8-stringed ukulele (with doubled strings like a bazouki). He did a bunch of songs and was very good, his playing of everything was excellent. We did a version of Barrett's Privateers, which he liked, but the rest of the songs were his. Meg was asked to put on a grass skirt and dance for one number, then the other woman staying there did the same. We were stuffed and entertained and the whole thing was a great opportunity that we were glad we took.
We went to bed spent and slept well on our last night on Easter Island.
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| Inside the crater. The black dots on the hillside are the earliest unfinished moai. |
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| Moai and their hats knocked down during the civil wars. |
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| Our host and his mighty bbq! |
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