Easter Island 22nd-28th February 2007
On our flight out of Tahiti they decided they were part of the european union so we had to carry small liquids in a clear plastic bag! Our hosts met us at the airport with flowers which was nice.
We had been doing so well on our trip when disaster struck. After being told Easter Island was safe someone came into our room in the night and stole Steve´s entire backpack and daysack! The thief also took a bag with two cameras from the people in the room next to us, they woke up and chased them, they dropped Steve´s daysack which contained our harddrive (all of our photos) his ipod and camera!
Luckily the tickets and passports were in Helens bag and her belongings were strewn all over the bed (I know this is most out of character) so the thief didn´t know where to start!
Despite the setback we took a tour of the island and saw lots of the Moais some are toppled over, we saw the quarry (volcano) where they were carved, some were waiting to be transported into place (they weigh up to 100 tonnes) some were half carved in the rock face. We saw the Moai restored by the Japanese after a tidal wave washed them up to 500 metres inland in 1960 and more restored Moai on the white sand beach of Anakena.
The island is about 24 km long with about 3500 inhabitants. The climate is quite mild so there are lots of tropical plants in gardens but it is also maritime. We had quite a lot of rain in very quick heavy downpours -like many places they are not having a very good summer. There are lots of wild dogs, chickens and horses on the island.
We saw the KariKari show in the evenings with the locals dressed in traditional costume, Steve was chosen to go up and dance twice with them. We had just missed the festival which lasts 10 days and would have been great to see. A lot of the traditions are based on the birdman cult.
We also did a walk to the volcano and saw the only Moai with restored eyes.
Like Tahiti it was expensive to eat and stay there but it was great to see the Moai´s and what Easter Island is really like.
Roger: Thanks for all the comments on the blog about New Zealand and for offering help when Steve´s backpack was stolen. Check out Steve´s new shirt.
We had been doing so well on our trip when disaster struck. After being told Easter Island was safe someone came into our room in the night and stole Steve´s entire backpack and daysack! The thief also took a bag with two cameras from the people in the room next to us, they woke up and chased them, they dropped Steve´s daysack which contained our harddrive (all of our photos) his ipod and camera!
Luckily the tickets and passports were in Helens bag and her belongings were strewn all over the bed (I know this is most out of character) so the thief didn´t know where to start!
Despite the setback we took a tour of the island and saw lots of the Moais some are toppled over, we saw the quarry (volcano) where they were carved, some were waiting to be transported into place (they weigh up to 100 tonnes) some were half carved in the rock face. We saw the Moai restored by the Japanese after a tidal wave washed them up to 500 metres inland in 1960 and more restored Moai on the white sand beach of Anakena.
The island is about 24 km long with about 3500 inhabitants. The climate is quite mild so there are lots of tropical plants in gardens but it is also maritime. We had quite a lot of rain in very quick heavy downpours -like many places they are not having a very good summer. There are lots of wild dogs, chickens and horses on the island.
We saw the KariKari show in the evenings with the locals dressed in traditional costume, Steve was chosen to go up and dance twice with them. We had just missed the festival which lasts 10 days and would have been great to see. A lot of the traditions are based on the birdman cult.
We also did a walk to the volcano and saw the only Moai with restored eyes.
Like Tahiti it was expensive to eat and stay there but it was great to see the Moai´s and what Easter Island is really like.
Roger: Thanks for all the comments on the blog about New Zealand and for offering help when Steve´s backpack was stolen. Check out Steve´s new shirt.
posted by Steve & Helen @ 12:42 AM
1 Comments:
At 4:42 PM,
karen & steve tindall said…
So sorry about your unfortunate experience - possessions can be replaced, but memories, like your hard drive can't. Stay safe.
Steve & Karen
We are really enjoying reading your bloggs :-)
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