April 8 Day 52
We got up, had breakfast and headed downtown to run some errands. We were trying to contact our hotel in Tahiti to let them know our flight was landing at 2 am but they had no e-mail and when we tried to Skype them we found that some update or settings change had convinced our computer that it didn't have a microphone. We did what we could in the shared wifi of a public park but didn't really get anywhere. We were able to confirm that Easter Island had fallen back in their time change the night before, and when one has a tour and a flight one wants to know what time it is.
Back at our place we ate the dinner we didn't have last night (due to bbq) and made sandwiches for tonight. We also asked our host for help contacting our hotel and she hauled out an ancient laptop with headphones but our computer didn't have a headphone jack and we had to leave to meet our tour, so we asked if she could help us when we got back.
Our tour was very different from the last one. There was an English guide and a German guide, each with a group of 3 people. We were with an Australian fellow who was decked out in full safari gear and barely spoke at all. Our guide was eccentric, with strange interjections and facial expressions but he seemed to know his stuff and loved questions.
We started off at caves by the shore, where the champions of each clan would star their journey to become the birdman. We then headed to the crater lake in the caldera of an old volcano beside the sea. This was the most impressive view as the lake was colourful and otherworldly, our guide said it was his favourite place on the island.
Next, we headed to Orongo Ceremonial Village, the real reason for our trip. It was a collection of stone huts which would allow the clan leaders to watch the islands where the champions would swim to to try to get and return with the first egg of the season. The site had lots of reconstructed buildings and some clear petroglyphs but the views out to sea and back into the caldera again stole the show.
Speaking of stealing, a lot of the info inside the interpretation centre focuses on the first ships who came here and took many paintings and sculptures away from the area, including the moia in the British Museum. Many are lost or have their return refused.
Our last stop was at another area where the row of statues was knocked down. Our guide picked out how stone laying technology improved over the years but we didn't stay there long.
We were dropped off back at our hosts' place and I tried again to contact our hotel. I couldn't get into Skype on their machine after half an hour of security questions because it was an old version that Skype wouldn't accept. I then looked at online help forums and downloaded a new driver, which took 45 minutes on the slow wifi. The driver worked and we called the hotel and they were cool with the late arrival. Solved after hours of technology frustration.
We walked down to the water to catch the end of the sunset, looked at a neat protected swimming area for the locals, got an ice cream and walked back. It's amazing how short a walk becomes when you know it and the landmarks along it. The first time we took it we didn't know how far it was or even if we were on the right street and it seemed like it took forever. After we returned, our hosts drove us to the airport and gave us seashell necklaces as a goodbye.
At the desk they gave us seats that weren't together. We found out later that we had the ends of a row of 3 with no one in between, so it was good. We were 2 hours early for our international flight but security wouldn't open for another hour so we burned through some of the last of our pesos and split a coffee. The waiting room after security was unique because it had a large outdoor area where you could cool down in the evening air.
Boarding started with no announcement and we got seats with full entertainment consoles that worked! It was very unlike Latam. We also were given a meal with complimentary wine, also very unlike them. I finally got to see The Favourite and then managed to scrounge a few hours sleep before we landed. It was one of the most turbulent flights we've been on but we eventually landed safely.
We got up, had breakfast and headed downtown to run some errands. We were trying to contact our hotel in Tahiti to let them know our flight was landing at 2 am but they had no e-mail and when we tried to Skype them we found that some update or settings change had convinced our computer that it didn't have a microphone. We did what we could in the shared wifi of a public park but didn't really get anywhere. We were able to confirm that Easter Island had fallen back in their time change the night before, and when one has a tour and a flight one wants to know what time it is.
Back at our place we ate the dinner we didn't have last night (due to bbq) and made sandwiches for tonight. We also asked our host for help contacting our hotel and she hauled out an ancient laptop with headphones but our computer didn't have a headphone jack and we had to leave to meet our tour, so we asked if she could help us when we got back.
Our tour was very different from the last one. There was an English guide and a German guide, each with a group of 3 people. We were with an Australian fellow who was decked out in full safari gear and barely spoke at all. Our guide was eccentric, with strange interjections and facial expressions but he seemed to know his stuff and loved questions.
We started off at caves by the shore, where the champions of each clan would star their journey to become the birdman. We then headed to the crater lake in the caldera of an old volcano beside the sea. This was the most impressive view as the lake was colourful and otherworldly, our guide said it was his favourite place on the island.
Next, we headed to Orongo Ceremonial Village, the real reason for our trip. It was a collection of stone huts which would allow the clan leaders to watch the islands where the champions would swim to to try to get and return with the first egg of the season. The site had lots of reconstructed buildings and some clear petroglyphs but the views out to sea and back into the caldera again stole the show.
Speaking of stealing, a lot of the info inside the interpretation centre focuses on the first ships who came here and took many paintings and sculptures away from the area, including the moia in the British Museum. Many are lost or have their return refused.
Our last stop was at another area where the row of statues was knocked down. Our guide picked out how stone laying technology improved over the years but we didn't stay there long.
We were dropped off back at our hosts' place and I tried again to contact our hotel. I couldn't get into Skype on their machine after half an hour of security questions because it was an old version that Skype wouldn't accept. I then looked at online help forums and downloaded a new driver, which took 45 minutes on the slow wifi. The driver worked and we called the hotel and they were cool with the late arrival. Solved after hours of technology frustration.
We walked down to the water to catch the end of the sunset, looked at a neat protected swimming area for the locals, got an ice cream and walked back. It's amazing how short a walk becomes when you know it and the landmarks along it. The first time we took it we didn't know how far it was or even if we were on the right street and it seemed like it took forever. After we returned, our hosts drove us to the airport and gave us seashell necklaces as a goodbye.
At the desk they gave us seats that weren't together. We found out later that we had the ends of a row of 3 with no one in between, so it was good. We were 2 hours early for our international flight but security wouldn't open for another hour so we burned through some of the last of our pesos and split a coffee. The waiting room after security was unique because it had a large outdoor area where you could cool down in the evening air.
Boarding started with no announcement and we got seats with full entertainment consoles that worked! It was very unlike Latam. We also were given a meal with complimentary wine, also very unlike them. I finally got to see The Favourite and then managed to scrounge a few hours sleep before we landed. It was one of the most turbulent flights we've been on but we eventually landed safely.
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| The caldera lake. |
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| The islands for the birdman competition. |
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| The ceremonial village site. |
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