Day 58: 27/8/12
Happy birthday Dad!!!!
Woke at 4 this morning and didn't sleep too much after that as there was a rooster crowing! I gave up trying to sleep at 7 and went on the Internet! At breakfast I saw one of the offending roosters strutting around the garden like he owned the place!!
While I was waiting for my tour guide o arrive I was sitting facing the patio door leading into the breakfast area. At one stage it was open and a guy came out trying to answer a phone call and was trying to open the fixed part of the door. Then he stuck his hand out as if he was going to hit something only to realise it was already open. He just shook his head and went on the phone! It was very funny!
So I learned lots today and saw lots of great sights!! Rapa Nui is the name of the island and it's 173 square kilometres. The only village, where I'm staying is Hanga Roa.
The whole island is really green- quite a tropical look about all the plants and trees. Lots have places just have grass and rock and actually look quite Irish. You can see the sea practically everywhere. The waves really crash against the rocks- it looks quite cool!
Our first stop was akahanga. The sites are all the same really. They contain an ahu which is a platform where they buried the chieftains of the family. On the ahu they placed a statue called a moai which is the stone statues you picture when you think of Easter Island. So really they are headstones! There are different sized ones which wasn't to do with the importance of the chief, it was just that they got bigger over the years as they improved their carving and transportation skills. In this site the moai were all knocked but you could imagine how they would have looked.
From the year 400-800 people migrated to these lands. First long ears came, ie people that lengthened their ears with earrings and then short ears- all from other areas in polynesia.
From 800-1600 they constructed 250 ahu and 900 moai but only 400 erected. The short ears were treated as Slaves. On the moai you can see that they have long ears, ie the important people.
Common people were cremated and then in later years there were mass graves.
All ahu are on the coastline facing the family they wish to protect. Manna (not sure if this is the spelling) is what they call power. It is said to be in the eyes of a person. Therefore the Eyes were the last thing carved and coral and some red stone put in for eye. This was obly done when they were erected at the ahu. 400 were erected which means there were 800 eyes and only 3 have been found. They believed in an After life- the statue was to represent the body in the new life. With eyes they were living.
They lived in a structure called a Boat house as it resembled an upturned boat. There were stone foundations in the ground and reeds were placed in that and bent over to put in the foundation on the other side. The reeds were like those on they Uros island in lake titicaca and some people claimed they must have come from south America but they came from Polynesia. The Houses were long and narrow and had a low door that they had to crawl into. They only went into it for sleeping. They Cooked in a pit using hot rocks and banana leaves-the same process was used in Tahiti and by the Maori, but they have different names.
Polynesia is a triangle from Hawaii to Easter island tonew Zealand and encompasses everything in between. The guide Seemed to resent being part of south America.
In the 1600's there was a war between the slaves and the important families. They knocked all the statues face down, knocking out eyes, or killing them. All statues are ruined. The Only ones standing are Reconstructions (except for those that in the quarry). Some statues were never finished- you can tell as the eyes aren't carved.
There are over 200 caves on the island carved by lava. Last explosion 200,000 years ago, no volcanic activity now. People used them for hiding in when the war started and when the Europeans arrived.
The Local language is Rapa Nui-people learn it at home first. Main language in school is Spanish but also learn Rapa Nui, English and French
There was an Ancient writing system of pictorial symbols on wooden carvings- no one has decoded it.

Then we went to Rano Raraku which was the quarry in a Volcano crater.
The moai were made here with volcanic rock as it was the lightest. They were Carved with rock as there was no metal on the island.
They Carved into the rock already there then kept carving to free it. They stood them upright to finish details so some statues here were upright- one 16m in total but a lot underground over time. One statue carved into the rock was 21m. It was still attached to the rock in the crater. There were finished statues (but no eyes) all around which were in the process of transportation. Some think they rolled them on logs face down as most were found face down. Some think they were transported standing, pulling ropes on one side and then the other (like moving a fridge!). There was One statue with legs. People thought it may be a more recent one but In fact it's one of the first ones as it is like ones seen on other Polynesian islands. Inside the crater there was a lake and real sandy ground. There were Lots of statues in there too. A Chilean couple felt they looked very different. They did look a but squarer with flatter noses alright. I dont know why!

We Had lunch then in little wooden huts outside. Chicken and rice- would have suited Muireann.

Then we went to Ahu Tongariki which contains 15 restored statues. Between 1992 and 1996 a Japanese company restored them. The red stone tops represent the hair. Only one had hair as none of the rest were possible to balance due to erosion. They Represent 15 generations of one family buried directly under the moai. Father, eldest son, eldest son, etc. It is the largest ahu found, ie the most graves. All were knocked during war. In the 1960's a tsunami caused by a Chilean earthquake brought the statues 100-200m inland. The tallest statue there is 9.5m tall. They were Always carved from pelvis to head with hands crossed at their belly, showing really long fingernails which was a symbol of wealth, ie people who do nothing! The Sea was crashing in behind the statues and it looked class. People live there- i cant imagine living with those big statues looming over me all the time! We also got to Create cool photos where I was the 16th moai!
There were also petroglyphs in the ground- like drawings of sea creatures and things. He said something about them representing divinity?

Next stop was Te Pito Kura- Another moai and ahu. It contains The biggest moai to have made it all the way from the crater to an ahu (10m). It is said to have been the last to have been knocked as when the French sailed here in 1760 (I think) they reported it standing. There were little stone walls around thr place aswell- some were boundaries (little piles) which marked out areas for each family- each was entitled to access to the sea. Other walls were reproductions of chicken huts. The first migrations brought chickens which were useful- feathers for costumes, bones for jewellery and for food.
The island used to be called something else which I can't pronounce which means the navel of the earth. Rapa Nui means big land. There's a stone here that people believed had special powers, that manna comes from it. This is now called the navel of the earth and is famous worldwide as people think it contains a special energy. (Of course I had never heard of this stone!!)

The nearest Island is 2000km away!!! Cant remember what he called it- he said something about the mountain of the bounties.

Anakena beach was the last stop. The first migration landed there, king took it as his area and royalty lived there. There's only one other beach - that one has white sand and red coral.
The beach has two reconstructed ahus which are much smaller. The Palm trees imported from Tahiti in the 50's but the beach is natural. It was gorgeous- really white sand and really blue sea. I got my feet in the pacific ocean! Unfortunately the water was called and all sandy. It looked brown by the time it reached the shore! There was a big navy ship anchored in the ocean- don't know who's navy!! I walked around along the water for a while- it was lovely!
When I got back to the hostel the table and chairs had been moved and an extra bed had been put in- I don't know who they are expecting!
This tour is like the last few I've been on- they book you in on trips during the day and then you're free to do what you want. The hotel had two shows advertised so I booked one for tonight and one for tomorrow. Tonight's one is with dinner cooked traditionally with the rocks and banana leaves. I was really looking forward to both shows.
I was told to be ready for pick up at 7:30. So I was. Pick-ups are often very late so I wasnt bothered at 7:45 when there was no sign. By 8:00 I was kind of wondering what the story was so I rang the bell at reception. Only a young lad doing caretaking appeared and he had absolutely no English! At about ten past, the cook appeared by chance. I explained my story to him and he seemed to say he was going to find out what was wrong. Next thing the receptionist appeared. I thought the cook had gotten him and he was finding out but when he didn't look over at me I figured he didn't know anything. So I went and explained my case again. He went and looked at the book to see what show I was down for and then said 'oh yes, they called, the show is cancelled'. I was raging. It was now 8:15 so I'd spent 45 minutes sitting waiting for something that was cancelled!! I stated that someone should have told me and he played dumb and said nothing. I think he knew well what I was saying. I was really disappointed that I wasn't going to see the show but hopefully torrows one will be okay.
I hadn't booked in for dinner in the hotel so I had to walk down to the main street and find one there. In fairness the guy in reception named two restaurants and the first one was near enough. I was delighted to see they had chicken curry on the menu- I think it's the first one I've seen since I got to south America. It was yummy- kind of coconutty! I had a baileys aswell- they se to have that everywhere!
Got a taxi back to the hotel them. If isn't far but it's quite isolated. You can hear the water all the time. Also there's lots of stars out tonight. The moon seems right over our heads ANC the sky still seems blue rather than black, even though it's dark. There's a few clouds that you can see clearly. Really beautiful sight!
When I was getting ready for bed, I pulled out the bed covers that had been tucked in and a big massive cockroach looking thing appeared. He was half dead but I flattened him a few more times just to be sure!! I had to do a few searches around before I could lie down and had to use the sleeping bag instead of the duvet!
Not a great evening!! Up until 7 o clock it was an excellent day!!
On top of everything the blog won't load!!!!!!!