Easter Island - Isla de Pascua or Rapa Nui

I never imagined I would be ever coming to Easter Island I imagined the cost to be exhorbitant but when I was in Cusco I was passing the LAN airline office and just decided to walk in and ask the cost of the return flight - by sheer luck they were having a special for the month of March and April of $427 return (normally $1250) - it was too good to pass up - going there for less than it cost going from Perth to Brisbane!!!! Booked it on the spot.....

When I imagined Easter Island - I imagined arriving there by boat (I don't know why I imagined going by boat - it's in the middle of nowhere) and seeing the huge statues (Moais) on the beach - well this is nothing like the reality......
The 5hr flight from Lima (no time change - amazing!) arrived at 6am so the first day there was to be a long one - we went exploring up the grass-sculptured landscape to one of the volcanic craters - Rano Kau - now a small lake with the remains of a past settlement nearby (they must have been dwarfs as the heights of these houses wasn't very high at all), rock covered in petroglyphs (carvings in the rocks).

After this to another volcano crater but at the end of the day we hadn't seen one moai - where were they all hiding - I imagined they were everywhere - or at least obvious.........must find them soon.....

Hired bicycles day 2 and rode up the coast so the first one we saw was a bit of a disappointment - a small version of what I imagined we would find and others we say were lying down.....

But as we rode up the coast we were not to be disapointed.....with the journey through Rano Ranaku - the quarry site where moais are half in and half out of the ground, some carved but still attached to the rock face and others amazing in their size and facial expressions.......

Every picture tells a story and this picture above represents my redesigned bike seat with padding becasue I was riding on a very rocky road and my chain jumped off the cogs and the bike just stopped and I fell off it and my bottom hit a sharp rock ........needless to say, I couldn't sit comfortably for ages.....but the swim at the beach was amazing after such a ride - all the young people at the hostel couldn't believe I had done the ride as they thought it too hard and long for them.....

Now here are some other general photos from all over the island.

Oh my God - I can't believe I forgot to put in about the cerviche - raw fish cooked in lime or lemon juice with spices and some tomatoes or onion added. Amazing - I had it every night!!!!! So delicious and so good for you!!

Here is one recipe - from the net - I'm sure there are heaps of variations:

For a refreshing snack that will feed six to eight people you will want about a pound of tuna or other fish filleted and deboned. You will need a couple of large tomatoes, several limes or a couple bottles of lime concentrate, an onion, and several chili peppers. If you are averse to really spicy foods you can substitute less spicy peppers.

The first thing you do is cut the meat into small fingertip sized chunks and place in a large bowl with a lid so you can shake the mixture up easily later. After you have the meat cut up pour just enough lime juice over it to cover the meat thoroughly, shake it up and put it to the side.

Next cut up your tomatoes into small chunks and scrape them into the mixture, then your onions and peppers and so on. Be sure to cut the peppers extra small.

If you like a little more seasoned taste you can sprinkle a little of your favorite spice on it although most people prefer to eat it as is.

Let the mixture chill in the refrigerator or on ice for at least one hour then serve with tortilla chips or crackers washed down with a good cold beer or glass of delicious white wine!!!!