World of Wonders - Easter Island

Standing on edge of an acient crater, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by stone monoliths which hold the secrets of a mysterious civilisation, we are entranced by Rapa Nui.

More commonly known as Easter Island or Isla de Pascua, Rapa Nui is the stuff of science fiction and famous for giant statues (moai) lining its shores. A Chilean Territory, only 117 square kilometres in size, Rapa Nui lies nearly 4.000 kilomentres from any other habitation.

Within moments of arriving, we meet a lady on her third visit to Easter Island, “I don’t know what it is about this place,” she tells us, “ But it fascinates me.” We nod sceptically, we have five days on the island and believe that this will be sufficient to visit a few stone statues and ruins.

We visit during mid winter and there are not more than twenty other tourists on this subtropical island with plenty of palm trees, but a nip in the wind that howls over the island. Hiring a jeep we head out on the deserted muddy roads, find ourselves lost, and then stumble upon our first heap of crumbled moai. A weird pulse pumps in our veins – that of explorers.

The triangle of Polynesia has Hawaii at its apex, and New Zealand and Rapa Nui each making its other corners. While Thor Heyerdahl´s Kon Tiki expedition theorised that the Polynesians came from South America it is now more widely held they came from South East Asia.

Easter Island, two cultures formed – the Long Ears and the Short Ears. Both cultures built large stone altars (ahu) which acted as ceremonial centres for villages and enormous stone statues (moai), which were possibily representations of clan ancestors or other god like figures. These moai blessed the well being of communities.

Within the cab of our jeep the excitement is palatable as we continue to navigate our way around the coast, literally discovering the remains of a civilisation. Piecing together the location of ahu, or discovering in an innocuous rock the carved ear of a moai is exhilirating.

When “discovered” (by a European) on Easter Day 1722, it was reported that the people and the culture of Rapa Nui seemed healthy. James Cook arrived a mere 52 years later and described damaged moai. Eventually all the moai were toppled in what was thought to be inter tribal warfare.

Tongariki emerges from the sea spray - fifteen upright moai, lined up against a spectacular backdrop of cliffs and the turbulent blue grey Pacific. Ranging between seven and nine metres tall, the moai dwarf us as we stand on the largest ahu ever built. Some moai are crowned by large red circular top knots which add to their imposing demeanour.

While the Tongariki site is impresssive now, it is only thanks to the efforts of a Japanese company which rebuilt the site. Indeed it is the result of international aid effforts that any moai are standing on Easter Island.

Contrary to popular belief the moai do not stand overlooking the ocean, but inland, to the site of a village. Some restored moai have eyeballs or painted eyes that stare piercingly as we gaze in awe.

As we round the windswept top end of the island we discover a ten metre high moai, face down on the earth, its neck broken and collapsed like a drunken man. There is something eerie and indecent about this place, of action and culture stopped in its tracks.

Ahu Te Pito Kura is believed to be the largest moai ever moved from the Rano Raraku quarry, and as we stare at the massive monolith, we can help but wonder at this civilisation who were able to move over 200 moai from the quarry to various points around the coast.

There are several theories as to how the moai were moved – no one knows for sure because European colonisation, subsequent use of islanders as slaves and then a devasting bout of smallbox reduced the population to a few hundred, and many of the secrets of the proud Rapa Nui people were lost forever.

Legend has it that the moai literally walked across the island through the power of the “mana” (the gods). Three popular theories exist, that the moai were moved using systems of pulleys, leverage or maybe wooden rollers, a possible explanation for the islands’ lack of vegetation.

“The Quarry” or Rano Ranaku crater was literally the birthplace of many moai – we visit in the early morning and are alone with over 600 partially completed statues, some free of the extinct crater, others merely carvings in a rock face. Our exploration reveals a nose here, or a thin lipped mouth, and we make out the shape of a monolith, spooned around the body of another partially completed statue.

The largest of these unfinished statues is a whopping 21 metre monster. As intertribal warfare worsened, and overpopulation strecthed the tiny island to its limits, islanders built increasingly larger moai in an attempt to appease their ancestors

We climb up onto the extinct crater and are greeted by an audience of yet more unfinished moai, gazing out over a reedy lake. Each one has different ears or lips, and all half buried with a mystical air that defies understanding. Ascending upwards onto the lip of the crater we are rewarded with dramatic views of the island and the endless Pacific Ocean stretching on forever.

Anakena is a pleasant place for lunch after the emotion and grandeur of Ranu Raraku – the only white sand beach on this island, and complimented by a grove of palm trees, planted on this island otherwise virtually denuded of vegetation. The white sand is the perfect backdrop for Ahu Nau Nau, a row of five moai, though somewhat smaller than others around the island.

Hanga Roa is the only town on Easter Island, a tranquil, laid back tropical town that stops in the middle of the day when the clattering hoofbeats of a horseman echo on the ramshackle streets. We visit the church on Sunday and the deep melodious voices of the Polynesian people carry us away to a time long ago.

The population of Isla de Pascua is 3000, mostly Polynesians who descend from those who carved the massive statues (moai). They speak their unique language Rapa Nui and are proudly attempting to revive traditions so nearly lost through the self destruction of their own culture and the subsequent European colonisation.

Easter Island is an enimga, and when it was time to leave we realised that we had merely skimmed the surface of an amazing mystery. There are a great many caves, arcaelogical sites and ruins strewn all over this tiny island meriting far more time – and though you won´t think so, you too will be mesmerised by the mysteries of tiny Rapa Nui.

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