Easter Island is one of the remotest places on Earth, famous for it's stone Moai heads made centuries ago by the Island's Polynesian inhabitants. It is 3,700km from the nearest main landmass (the Chilean coastline) and it is funny to think that to get further from civilisation you have to go into space! As we headed in we had a full view of the small, green island (known locally as Rapa Nui) which is only 17km long, 11km at it's widest point and covers an area of 173 square kilometres... that's half the size of the Isle of Wight! The climate in Easter Island is subtropical so the weather was warm and humid as we stepped off the plane; noticeably different from the coldness of Santiago. We had been told that the best way to secure accommodation on the Island was at the airport where all the local hostel owners come to greet arriving passengers so while waiting for our bags we wandered around the different stands in the tiny airport and settled for a little family-run hostel called Ana Rapu, close to the ocean.
After transferring to our hostel and dumping our bags we walked into the tiny town of Hanga Roa (the only inhabited place on the island). As it was a Sunday, almost everything was closed, including all the tour operators whom we had hoped to visit to get on a day tour for the following day. We grabbed some lunch in one of the few cafes open before deciding to hire a scooter and take ourselves around some of the Island for the afternoon. Thankfully we decided to let Ash have a trial run because he got on the scooter, zoomed across the road and straight into the curb... his legs were too long for the scooter and he found it difficult to ride. It was a quick and easy decision NOT to take the scooter. We opted instead for the safer, more familiar 4x4 jeep and feeling very embarrassed, we headed off. Ash was glad to be away from the hire place... with all his mountain biking experience he thought driving a little moped would be a synch! Bi tried to be supportive but in the end had to fall over with laughter! 
We drove out of the town and headed towards the centre of the island to see some of the archaeological sites there. Easter Island has a beautiful and unique landscape that was made by the eruption of 3 large now-dormant volcanoes several million years ago. The land is very green and covered in a mixture of palm trees and eucalyptus. The coastline is truly spectacular, very reminiscent of the best parts of the Cornish
coast and as the island is so remote the waves from the Pacific are enormous (and very popular for surfing), crashing over the coastline and spraying plumes of water high into the air as far as the eye can see.Apart from the main road between Hanga Roa and Anakena (at the opposite end of the island) the roads are all unmade and extremely bumpy, so we were very glad to be in a 4x4 and not on a little scooter! We toured the West side of the Island and our first stop in the afternoon was Pauna Poa, an old quarry where the Polynesians extracted the red stone to carve the red Moai hats and top knots.
We headed further inland and stopped at Ahu Akivi to see our first Moai heads, 6 of them which had been uprighted and restored to their former glory. They were spectacular and we had them all to ourselves! It was great to be finally sat relaxing on Easter Island looking at these splendid statues... it was going to be a memorable trip. After taking many photos, we headed further around the island and visited a lava cave before heading back along the west coast line towards Hanga Roa to see the moai heads at 
Tahai, just north of the town. As it was not quite sunset, we decided to head out to the Southern tip of the island and drove up to the enormous 324m deep dormant volcano crater of Rano Kau. It has a lagoon in the centre and is one of the highlights of the Island. We sat on the crater lip looking over the island and out to the Pacifi
c and watched the beautiful sunset. We then quickly got the car down off the volcano before it got dark. You cannot get vehicle insurance on Easter Island and therefore have to take full responsibility for paying for any damage to any vehicle you hire. We decided we would not risk driving on the bumpy, narrow road in the dark!
We spent the rest of the evening cooking ourselves a gourmet dinner of spaghetti and packet sauce with an onion added for flavour. It is outrageously expensive to buy anything on the Island and supplies are very basic and all imported so there is not a lot of choice as far as cooking and eating is concerned, especially when you are on a budget!On Monday we awoke to a nice breakfast of Papaya, pancakes and bread and jam! We dashed out by 9.00 am to get to a tour agency and join a tour but they were all full and we had to reserve a place for Tuesday. 
This turned out to be in our favour as we ended up touring the whole Island in a jeep by ourselves and it was without a doubt the best way to do it. With no tours, we quickly headed to a vehicle hire shop and got ourselves a shiny little red Suzuki Jimny jeep for 24 hours before they were all gone. En route out of the town we stopped at the local market and purchased provisions for a picnic lunch. We started out along the coast as we headed out to tour the East side of the Island. The scenery was so stuning that we had to keep stopping the car to get out and absorb it and to watch the enormous waves crashing into the coastline. 
After a little time along the coast we headed inland, diagonally across the island to a pretty beach and Maori site called Anakena. It was like a tropical oasis.. a lovely green picnic area adorned with palm trees, a small beach and row of 6 maori heads which faced inland. It was such a beautiful place and we literally had it to ourseleves (the beauty of not being on a tour) so we decided to have our picnic lunch there... avocado and tomato rolls and a tub of pringles. 
After lunch we set out on a 2 hour walk along the coastline before jumping back in the jeep, heading inland slightly and walking up to the Ano Roi volcano which sits in the middle of the Island and affords lovely 360 degree views across the whole of Easter island. For the remainder of the afternoon we followed the coastline around the whole of the east coast along the bumpy, pot hole filled roads stopping at the various Maori sites along the way. 
The most spectacular site of the day was Tongariki where 15 huge Maori statues stand proudly in a row, their backs to the ocean. As with all the other sites, we had this one all to ourselves. In fact, it felt like we had the whole island to ourselves as we hardly saw anybody else. It made for a really special and memorable experience. We continued along the coast stopping at smaller sites before arriving back in time to watch the sunset from the high vantage point of our hostel in Hanga Roa. We managed to see all but one of the archaeological sites that Easter island has to offer, the Rano Ranuku volcano so we decided to fake a sicky and cancel our tour and save the 50 pounds. We decided it would be a nice idea to head out early in the morning and visit the volcano at sunrise before returning the jeep at 9.30m. We cooked ourselves a meal of packet tomato soup with the left over spaghetti thrown in... it was actually very nice... we then called it a night feeling pooped!
This turned out to be in our favour as we ended up touring the whole Island in a jeep by ourselves and it was without a doubt the best way to do it. With no tours, we quickly headed to a vehicle hire shop and got ourselves a shiny little red Suzuki Jimny jeep for 24 hours before they were all gone. En route out of the town we stopped at the local market and purchased provisions for a picnic lunch. We started out along the coast as we headed out to tour the East side of the Island. The scenery was so stuning that we had to keep stopping the car to get out and absorb it and to watch the enormous waves crashing into the coastline. 
After a little time along the coast we headed inland, diagonally across the island to a pretty beach and Maori site called Anakena. It was like a tropical oasis.. a lovely green picnic area adorned with palm trees, a small beach and row of 6 maori heads which faced inland. It was such a beautiful place and we literally had it to ourseleves (the beauty of not being on a tour) so we decided to have our picnic lunch there... avocado and tomato rolls and a tub of pringles. 
After lunch we set out on a 2 hour walk along the coastline before jumping back in the jeep, heading inland slightly and walking up to the Ano Roi volcano which sits in the middle of the Island and affords lovely 360 degree views across the whole of Easter island. For the remainder of the afternoon we followed the coastline around the whole of the east coast along the bumpy, pot hole filled roads stopping at the various Maori sites along the way. 
The most spectacular site of the day was Tongariki where 15 huge Maori statues stand proudly in a row, their backs to the ocean. As with all the other sites, we had this one all to ourselves. In fact, it felt like we had the whole island to ourselves as we hardly saw anybody else. It made for a really special and memorable experience. We continued along the coast stopping at smaller sites before arriving back in time to watch the sunset from the high vantage point of our hostel in Hanga Roa. We managed to see all but one of the archaeological sites that Easter island has to offer, the Rano Ranuku volcano so we decided to fake a sicky and cancel our tour and save the 50 pounds. We decided it would be a nice idea to head out early in the morning and visit the volcano at sunrise before returning the jeep at 9.30m. We cooked ourselves a meal of packet tomato soup with the left over spaghetti thrown in... it was actually very nice... we then called it a night feeling pooped!
We were up at 6.30am and on our way to Rano Ranuku volcano by 7am. It was pitch black as the sun does not rise here until about 7.30am. When we reached the site it was still dark so we parked the jeep on some cliffs and sat and waited for the sun to rise over the Pacific. At daybreak we drove into the area of Rano Ranuku, parked and walked up and around the crater which was spectacularly littered with loads of Maori heads. The Maori heads on Easter Island 
were carved from volcanic rock on the slopes of the Rano Ranuku volcano but there are about 350 still scattered across the side of the volcano which never made it out to their final destinations on the Island. We had the place to ourselves, again, and it was a real highlight. We spent a good hour marvelling at the many statues, some still attached to the crater as they had not been fully carved. We took silly pictures and took in the scenery around us before returning to Hanga Roa to hand back our little Jeep. 
We decided that having covered all of the Island we would spend the rest of the day relaxing around Hanga Roa. We had our breakfast, which the owner refused to serve us before 9am (!), and headed out on a walk a long the coast. Ash had talked about doing some diving, and having found the main dive centre, within an hour we were unexpectedly putting on wet suits and dive gear for a scuba dive off the coast. 
We decided that a scuba dive would top off our experience of the Island quite spectacularly and it really did. We headed out with an instructor to a spot just off the coast near Hanga Roa called Anchors Reef. It is called this due to the many 19th century anchors that sit at the bottom around the reef at a depth of 24 metres. We backwards rolled off the boat and down we went. There are not a lot of big fish to see where we dived, it was more scenic diving with clear water, beautiful coral and colourful fish and we loved it. It was like swimming in an aquarium. We had two large jack fish about the length of Bi's arms follow us and playfully weave in and out of us for the duration of the 45 minute dive. We also saw lots of moray eels, schools of large sunset wrasses, flounder, lots of trumpet fish, a scorpion fish, beautiful coral, lots of old anchors and a large maori head that was used in a Kevin Costner film.. not an original but still quite a sight to see under water. 
After the dive, we sat and had a picnic before walking up to the museum to learn about the Island and the theories behind the Maori statues. We finished off the day with a meal out. Seafood is the speciality here and Ash took the opportunity to try Ceviche, a dish of raw fish which is very popular here in many parts of South America and something he had not been game enough to try in Peru. It came served in a huge shell. Bi livened up her salad with a big strawberry daiquari and we both sat and reminisced about what a fabulous experience Easter Island has been. It will definitely be one of the major highlights of our time in South America.
On Wednesday morning we had a few hour on the island before catching our 4 hour flight back to Santiago, Chile. We have just a few days left here in South America before we head out to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. 
