Despite being very tired we both had a restless night and finally got up late morning. We walked along the seafront and found a bar for brunch. As we sat enjoying our meal we saw a turtle pop it's head up in the sea. We were too late with the camera and sat for a while looking in vain for it to reappear. From here we headed to the tourist information office to find it closed so headed to the main street to do a bit of shopping. Hanga Roa is the island's sole town with 6700 inhabitants and most shops, restaurants, bars and accommodation are based around the main street. The cabanas have kitchen facilities and we had planned to have a few meals there however didn't see anything we fancied in the supermarket so just got provisions for breakfast. Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is a small (117sq km), very remote, isolated place and a treasure trove of archaeology which draws the tourists here. There's been an ongoing dispute between the local islanders and the Chilean government over the income from the National Park, which apparently all goes to the mainland, and the influx of mainland Chileans coming to the island to work. The locals were barricading the park access and the National Park office was closed although it was all a bit vague as to where you could/couldn't go. We thought the best option was to book a tour, hopefully this would help with the access and also provide an insight into the history and cultural significance of the numerous archaeological sites. We headed to company recommended by Lonely Planet to find it closed. We wandered back to the seafront and had sight of our first moai, Ahu Tautira, the massive carved figures which stand between 2 and 10m high, overlooking the fishing port. We continued north along the coastal path to Ahu Tahai, the site of 3 ahu's. Ahu's are village burial sites and ceremonial centres with the platform containing one or more moai. The restoration of one of the moai here, Ahu Ko Te Ritu, includes the head knot made of red rock and eyes. The weather was very hot and we were both tired and decided to stroll the short distance back to the cabanas. Kathy very kindly offered to book the tour for us for tomorrow (her sister-in-law works for the tour agency) and after chilling out on the terrace we went to a restaurant very close by, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, for dinner.
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| The local church |
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| Ahu Tautira |
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| The fishing port (with moai just left of centre) |
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| The coastline north of Hanga Roa |
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| Ahu Tahai & Ahu Vai Uri |
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| Ahu Ko Te Ritu |
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| The local beer |
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