by Javier was again our tour guide for the day. The fallen Moai at Akahanga was our first stop. It is thought that civil war caused by deteriorating living conditions several hundred years ago may have led to Moai being pushed over by opposing tribal groups. In fact when the first Europeans came all the Moai except one were fallen over. Javier told us a tsunami as well as Christians were the reason that they had fallen. We were becoming a little skeptical by this stage.
The volcano “quarry” Rano a Raraku appeared ahead of this. This was where all the Moai were carved. This is the place in all the photos we had seen and it didn’t disappoint. Each Moai had its own personality. There was the largest at 20m tall, not fully carved, the most photographed, the biggest nostrils, the longest ears. You can imagine the tribal leaders coming Moai shopping to find the perfect one.
From the quarry we could see the next most famous site, Tongariki. There are 15 standing Moai, restored to there positions thanks to a passionate Japanese man, completed in 1995. We decided we would definitely try and come back to see the sun rise behind them tomorrow.
It was now that the tour turned to some quasi science when Javier showed us the magnetic rocks at Te Pito Kura. The look on the teenagers faces says it all. Lunch was a BBQ under a marquee then on to Anakena Beach which had its own resident Moai and is one of only 2 sandy beaches on the island so was very popular. Pineapples and some coronas in between rain showers and a swim finished our tour.
Back in town we negotiated for a couple of hire cars for the next day so we could see a few more sights on our own. More ceviche and cocktails for dinner.
The teenagers were not happy about getting up at 6:30am to get on the road back to Tongariki to watch the sun rise behind the 15 Moai. There were quite a lot of people there, most staying in a nicely formed line so as not to get in people’s photos. But there’s always one, or two who don’t play by the rules. Some of our photos had 16 or 17 “Moai” in them. Unfortunately it was a cloudy morning so the view was not as spectacular as it could be but it was great to sit still, be quiet and just watch.
After sun rise we went to the replica village. Our tour guided did not take us there yesterday, maybe his Aunty didn’t have a souvenir stand here. The houses were canoe shaped, long and low with grass roofs, they had stone chicken houses and gardens mulched with rocks.
Off to the quarry next to go inside the crater as we had not been able to due rain the day before. There were abandoned Moai here too along with a herd of wild horses with foals. Tourists are tightly controlled in where they can walk but horses apparently are not destructive.
After “not touching” any Moai we raced several bus loads of National Geographic tourists to Tongariki to clean out the ceviche selling man, who was very happy to head home early. We enjoyed our ceviche on Ovahe beach and then a swim to cool off.
We thought we would have an afternoon rest but couldn’t help ourselves and booked a boat and snorkelling trip out to the Birdman islands. It was great to see the big volcano from the water and the visibility at 55m and the cobalt colour of the water was amazing. Apparently the water is much saltier than at home and there is little sea life.
Tonight was our last night with just us for our trip so team Rapa Nui shirts were called for. The locals appreciated our enthusiasm, or maybe were just laughing at us as we walked to the Te Moai Sunset restaurant. Cocktails, beer, wine, more ceviche and Bel’s massive plate of ribs had us laughing until late. Unfortunately a game of butt slapping on the way home ended badly for Kate who tried to crash tackle Will, fell in a pothole and came off second best.
Bella with her massive meal and William’s tiny meal 
