Day 88 February 5th 2007, Don't loose your head - Easter Island

Now equipped with a basic understanding of what Easter Island is all about we headed off on our second tour of the Island covering the South and East coast of the Island.

Above is the largest Ahu on the Island, Ahu Tongariki with 15 Moai, this was restored at the cost of $4million by a Japanese businessman in the 90's, according to Bill the Japanese were Moai crazy in the 90's. You can see the Moai second from the right wearing his top knot.

When Easter Island is mentioned the first thing that comes to mind are the giant stone heads. These are in actual facts Moai that never made it to the Ahu's the are still at the quarry where they were carved and many have sunk into the ground leaving just the heads. There were more Moai than you could count still half carved such as the one below behind Bill which believe it or not is 7 stories high. Once the Moai were carved they were moved (how exactly is unknown) the legend says they walked) to the coast. If they were damaged in any way they were deemed not strong enough to contain the chiefs mana and abandoned. The result Moai all over the place. There are almost 700 in various states on the Island.

The quarry Rano Raraku on the side of an extinct volcano was probably the most impressive place on the Island, the half carved Moai looked like they were about to slowly emerge from the rock and march slowly towards the coast. Below is the famous shot of the stone heads, we have about 100 photos of these to share with everyone when we get back. Each Moai has a unique face which resembled the chief it belonged to, the eyes were the only part of the Moai not carved at the quarry, these were only carved once the Moai was on the Ahu. Of course we purchased a small reproduction Moai which is now on his way back to the UK.

The Islanders (Rapa Nui's) believed that the Island was the naval of the world, not hard to believe when all you can see in every direction is sea. Below is a magnetic rock called the Naval which spookily was very warm to the touch


For lunch we stopped off at Anekena, a beautiful beach where the original King Hota Matu'a from Polynesia is said to have landed, there is a restored Ahu amongst the palm trees. Interestingly though all the palms are imported, they grow on the island but wont germinate here.
Highlights: The quarry Rano Raraku