Easter Island
Last visited by us for 8 days back in 2011
March 27th
A very frustrating day, the ship arrived off the northern beach of Easter Island - La Perouse Bay - at 8am. We had already had breakfast and were expecting to go ashore soon after noon for a 4 - 5 hour excursion, thus an early lunch was called for at 11, the weather was far from ideal, . Having just started lunch, Marieke announced that today's excursion was to be absorbed into tomorrow's, when the weather was forecast to improve. Around one she announced that we could go ashore to explore the local marae with its Moai. So we got all wrapped up against the rain, only to then be informed that the local authorities had banned all disembarcation for the day!! Their bio-secutity inspectors obviously had refused to stay there for 4 hours in the rain! And she added ther fact that there had been more rain today than any other day in the past 8months!. )ackie gave a slide show on a 2002 festival in Hawaii of canoe building by several Polynesian nations. Spent the rest of the afternoon reading, with difficulty, )uan de Passos book on Easter Island. We had an early dinner after Recap and Briefing, in which Marieke went on and on, with the volume of the microphone far too high, about how she had tried to get the best experience for us. Her latest news was that the dance show was no longer going to be tonight but tomorrow, at 8.30 pm after a long day out on tour of eight hours
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click on a thumbnail to get a bigger photo
March 28th
The rain had stopped and we were ashore on Easter Island by 8.30. We had Sabrina as our local guide, shared between buses 1 & 2, 15 in each; she was excellent. First stop was the 7 Moai, Ahua Kivi
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then over to north of Hanga Roa to the only Moai still possessing an eye,
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then through the town to Orongo, the volcanic crater , site of the Birdman antics
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. We went past Ta - Oro where we had stayed in 2011( and Sabrina had known both Sharon & Kia well!) . Back in town we had 30 minutes free roaming
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before heading over to the Village reconstruction on the north side of the island: this had a Mahae where the Moai had not been re erected .
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Next stop was the quarry where they had erected a large tent for our lunch , the a large bap with tomato, ham & cheese and an apple. We then walked round the quarry.
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The last stop of the day was Tongariki with its15 statues...
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Back aboard, after the pleasant stroll through the coconuts and across the busy beach, before 6 I found champagne, a birthday cake and balloons in the cabin
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After showering we took a glass of champagne up to the Panorama lounge to enjoy it with some canapés. Then we had dinner up on deck with a lovely view to the beach and just 4 other passengers. We finished the champagne up there and ended our meal with the cake.
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Then down to the watch the Kari Kari dancers that had come aboard. Finally back to the bar for another coffee and an Amaretti with Christine and Ian
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March 29th
A day to forget . I took a seasick pill as I felt queasy on getting up and then felt like a zombie for the rest of the day. Spent the morning in bed, watching Milás lecture on Settlers of the Pacific from the room, but then had lunch up on deck . Did go to Anthony´s talk on Whaling but fell asleep. Sent David to afternoon tea by himself and then managed the Recap and Briefing. Was disappointed by the Venetian Society meeting as they did not say how many days the most intrepid travellers had travelled with Silverseas, other than one couple received a 500 day certifificate. Did enjoy dinner with the hotel director, Ormaz, from Turkey, though- 2 Americans from Rochester, N.Y. and the boutique manager , Tina, also ate with us
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on to Pitcairn