Easter Island - Rapa Nui

 Sara Jane anchored in Hanga Roa bay

We are tickled pink to have made it here - Easter Island and Tristan da Cunha compete to be named the remotest inhabited place on the planet.  It certainly feels remote here, with the nearest land being Pitcairn Island over 1100 miles away.  As we anchor off the coast we have land one side and thousands of miles of ocean on the other – Chile, Antarctica or Pitcairn!  Unlike the Galapagos Islands this island is too far from the mainland to have any indigenous animals, and the original palm trees that covered the island were probably destroyed by the pacific rats the first settlers brought with them, as they ate all the seeds, and not just by human deforestation.

Main street and the church

Hanga Roa is the settlement on Easter Island, a small town that is the only place on the island with running water and electricity, plus a small airport with flights to Chile and Tahiti.  There are 3 or 4 dive sites in the bay which are well used and many people paddle past in long, slim kayaks with outriggers on one side.  The Port Control officials are extremely helpful and keep an eye on us and the 3 other yachts here (none we have met before, 2 French & one Australian) and the solitary cargo ship.   There are lots of medium sized stray dogs who are very friendly.  Every time we go ashore in the dinghy (through the rocks, surf and with surfers on either side of us) we are met by at least 2 dogs and they trot along with us just for the walk, even checking we are still with them every minute or so and waiting outside the shops for us. 

Hanga Roa at sunset

The wind does shift constantly and is often very strong so we have had to move around the island so as to be safe with an offshore rather than onshore wind, but the water is so clear that we can see the bottom in 20 metres which makes finding the patches of sand to anchor in really easy.  So we have circumnavigated Easter Island, anchored in every anchorage and in Hanga Roa 3 times, and been fortunate enough to anchor off some of the most famous sites on the island. 

The backs of the Tongariki statues at sunrise

Spot the 88 tonne one

At Tongariki, alone in the bay with the row of 15 statues (Moai’s) ahead of us and the looming hill which houses the quarry, Rano Raraku, behind them, was one of the most unusual places we have ever anchored in.  The Moai’s are looking inland to protect the village that used to be there.  The largest one weighs 88 tonnes, and it is hard to believe that it was carved in the quarry and transported here then hauled upright, all using man-power, stones and wooden poles.

Sara Jane is the speck on the horizon

We had been assured by the Port Captain that we could probably land in the dinghy in the far corner of the bay where the fishermen left their boats.  We headed in towards the surf breaking on black rocks – no sign of anywhere to land until we were almost on the rocks when there was a small opening.  We crept in, being pushed out by the surge of the waves, and sure enough there was a tiny dock tucked right in there with 2 small open boats tied up.

The quarry is the hill on the left

  We had a lovely walk, skirting round the smelly corpse of a horse excluded, along the path to Rano Raraku, where all the statues were carved and where nearly 400 can still be seen in various stages of carving. 

Some of the 3000 horses that roam the island

Traditionally, when a Chief or important member of the tribe died a statue was commissioned.  It was then transported to the village and erected to look over and protect their descendants.  The quarry was abandoned suddenly so lots of stone tools were found as well as statues from those just started to those ‘in transit’.  They are so much bigger than I’d imagined and quite awe inspiring.  From the top of the quarry we could just make out the boat as a tiny dot in the bay.

These are some of the 'topknots' that have not been replaced on the statues at Tongariki as they are too damage.  They were carved 7 miles away from Rano Raraku

As the weather changed we headed to the north coast and the anchorage off Anakena beach.

  

Once again we were on our own and at night, in constant drizzle, it was so dark we could not make out the land.  The best preserved row of Moai’s on the island are here as when they were all knocked over in the 17^th century these ones were quickly buried in sand so did not suffer the erosion the rest have.  The palm trees came from Tahiti in the 1960's.

 Once again the boat is a dot in the bay.

From Hanga Roa we did a long trek along the coast, accompanied by 2 dogs, up to the volcano of Rano Kau, filled with water and coated with reeds, and to Orongo, the ancient ceremonial village perched between the crater and the edge of the cliffs. 

This village was only used for the ceremonies – the Birdman ceremony involved young men climbing down the cliff here, swimming over a mile to a tiny island, and competing to be the first to find and bring back an egg from a sooty tern.  Yes, pretty strange,incredibly dangerous and finally stopped by the missionaries in about 1866. 

 Orongo village is at the top of these cliffs

The island id the larger one, with more cliffs to be climbed

Soon afterwards we had to head round to anchor off the cliffs on the SE side of the island to shelter from more strong winds, but we were still in a huge swell, rocking the boat.  We are looking forward to being at sea with a regular rolling motion rather than all the jerky, crashing and bouncing waves we have had here.

In between racing around the island, we have done boat maintenance – fixed the alternator, the generator (had a few hours contemplating the next 2 months without any electricity..), found a problem with the water heater (get parts in Tahiti we hope) mended another sail, done school and tried to find somewhere with WiFi but only managed going online at the library on their old & clunky computers.  So if this is posted we have been successful at last. 

We are leaving this afternoon and heading for Pitcairn.