Leaving the mysteries behind...

  Papeete, Cook Islands
Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Locals refer to the island as Te Pito o te henua (the navel of the world) but in 1888 it became part of Chile and is now known as Isla de Pascua (after the first European landed on Easter Sunday in 1722) so that clears are the name mystery!

And it really is as isolated as you can imagine... which also explains why it`s so much more expensive than anywhere else I`ve been on the mainland (and the trip so far!) as everything is imported in.

The town consists of just a few streets and the only Moai statue with eyes is a short walk out of town... the rest of the sites have to be accessed by other means as the island is about 117 sq km!

Being here is pretty awe inspiring.... and the theories and history behind it all has left me with endless unanswered questions.

Were the statues really representations of Rapa Nui ancestors (if so why can`t any of the current Rapa Nui people confirm it back through the family?)?  What caused the theorised war between the civilisations/tribes, and the consequential destruction?  How did they really move them overland?

There`s also the religious cult of the birdman for which there seems to be more recent evidence to support the theories involving annual competitions to determine the next leader.

Whatever the truth behind the mysteries... it`s well worth stopping by here on the way to Tahitia (or New Zealand in my case!) or just hopping over from Santiago because it truely is a wonder of the world, although no idea why it didn`t make the new 7 wonders?  Another mystery I guess!?

My favourite site has to be the Ranu Raraku quarry where the Moais are in perfect condition, there`s hundreds and you can get real close.... 

01 Not sure where to look....

On my first night I braved the local music/dancing show and although it was a bit scary at first (you don`t know where to look there`s so much naken flesh on display!) the men really know how to move those hips lol!  Not like back home :)....

So I think I`ve seen nearly every site here.... met a couple of gringos and we rented a jeep yesterday to sweep up the remaining sites which weren`t covered during the tours.... and we had to venture off road in the mud as it was raining all day ... but it was great fun!

Onto more normalised experiences from now on and it`s sadly goodbye to the Spanish for another year :( Hasta luego!