Easter Island

Arrival in Easter Island to thick clouds and humidity... set up the tent (our wonderful NZ$48 warehouse special) just in time before the rain started... and lasted for the following eight days of our visit. The first night put our little tent to the utmost test of waterproofness as it thundered with rain.

Met some really nice people at our slightly squalid residencial - a surfer couple from Hawaii that were travelling the world with their surfboards, and an American and Chilean couple who had come to enjoy some warm tropical weather (oops!)

Originally, the weather forecast was rain over the weekend until Tuesday, after which was uninterrupted sunshine, so many of the early days were spent in the kitchen, chatting, cooking and pottering... everyone generally waiting for the weather to clear, amongst talk of "it might clear up...." Depression began to sink in on Tuesday when it really wasn't going to clear up, and the weather forecast changed back to continuous rain. Good people met, some good party late nights, ah yes, and the statues, or Moai as they are known.

OK, I'm supposed to be a "heritage professional", but apart from the statues, there's really nothing much on the islands, and unless you're seriously into archeology atc, think long and hard about your visit, as really, there's not much going on there. Saying that too, the whole legends of the lost civilizations of Easter Island are truly fascinating, and a big warning for the rest of us on on this small planet (an abridged version of the Easter Island history is the native population was highly organised and civilized, but effectively broke down into chaos as natural resources ran out due to population pressures on limited resources)... and the statues in the quarry are truly amazing (all the others have been "resurrected" for tourism purposes).

Oh yes - the roads are terrible - we shared the rental of a small 4wd with some friends, it almost floated and started to flood on the inside as we plunged through the deep mud and flooded roads.

For a selection of pictures of Moai standing up, lying on their fronts, lying on their backs, broken, complete, half buried, with hats on, without hats on etc... click here!