Days 29 & 30 : Heading Home!

Saturday 11^th March, 2017

Thursday 9^th was our last day in Tahiti. We had another wander around the Papeete in the morning, and in the afternoon did an Around the Island Tour which was great. Now it’s night, and the view from our Papeete window is just lights on boats; no clouds, no sunset, no ferries …

We caught a 2 AM plane to Auckland and arrived there at 6 AM on Saturday. Friday was a brief affair! Sydney and Hobart then followed later on Saturday.

The flight home turned out to be totally uneventful, just the way they should be! Once we left Tahiti navigating queues were much quicker as typical NZ and Australian efficiency took over. I was surprised Australian customs were not in the least bit interested in our having been meandering amongst penguin poo! Why did we even bother declaring that?

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Since coming home I have completed various entries, and now changed the publication dates of the posts so that you can read them more or less in chronological order! I’ve also added the various labels (Antarctica, Easter Island, Ecocamp, Patagonia, Tahiti) that you see as tabs below the title of the blog. Select one of these and you’ll see only the so-labelled entries.

In due course I might write a final entry on reflections of the trip, written with the advantage of a month or two of hindsight!

Meanwhile, enjoy …

Day 28 : Tahiti – An Around the Island Tour

Thursday March 9^th, 2017

Tahiti comprises two islands joined by an isthmus. The larger of the two, Tahiti Nui, has a good road all along its coast, with the mountains rising from the coast to around 2,240 m and generally shrouded in cloud. The smaller, Tahiti Iti, is less developed and has poor roads.

Typical west coast Tahiti with a fringing reef in the distance

Days 26-28 : Tahiti – Exploring Papeete

March 7-9^th, 2017 

Sleep abandoned, we admire the view for a while over a cup of tea and hatch a plan with the aid of tourist brochures from the desk drawer: get something for breakfast, organise tours around or into the island for the following days, and explore Papeete on foot in our free time.

Days 25 & 26: Tahiti –Travelling to Papeete

March 6 & 7^th, 2017 

We did not cope with the heat and humidity in Easter Island at all well, and Tahiti is 10 degrees further north! We seem to have a chest infection, and a dry hacking cough (that makes me feverish). It was brewing amongst passengers in Antarctica, and certainly started there for us,  and has now become a major issue. As the Hotel Altiplanico did not have air-conditioning – just fans and huge opening sliding doors which might let the insects in at night – we have had little relief from the humidity. So Easter Island has been a real trial, but we did enjoy it, and certainly very happy to have been here!

Day 25 : Easter Island - Exploring Hanga Roa

Monday March 6th, 2017 

I was disappointed that the Altiplanico was so far from the centre of town. On our first afternoon we were free to do our own thing but felt too crook to walk there and back in the heat and humidity, so we felt isolated. Today, our last day, we took a taxi into Hanga Roa to explore on foot.

It was a cloudy morning with a sea breeze, and thankfully nowhere as humid as the prior sunny days when we toured the ahu and moai. But it wasn’t to last, as showers and sunshine came at lunch time, and the afternoon was humid. In the meantime we explored Hanga Roa. It was indeed very rural and “laid back”, but the people wonderfully friendly and helpful.

Explaining hands in Hanga Roa

Day 24 : Easter Island–Tour of Cultural Sites in the Northeast and North

Sunday March 5^th, 2017:

The day dawned clear and very warm. Being a tree-less island there was little respite from the sun while we were touring sites today! We drove in a van with the windows open up the SE facing coast to the NE corner of the island. It was flat and very open, and mostly grazing land. It is fenced, sometimes with long sinuous stone walls, yet we saw very little stock.

There’s plenty of rock for stone fences!

Day 23 : Easter Island - Tours to Cultural Sites in the Southwest

Saturday March 4^th, 2017:

We had travelled to Easter Island to see the stone statues, or moai, that have generated so much mystery, and to learn more about the Rapa Nui culture. Despite our illness, exacerbated by the high humidity, we were not disappointed!

There are 887 known moai, and many have now been restored to their rightful place standing on a ceremonial platform, or ahu. With the exception of 5 moai at Ahua Akivi, they face inland. They are carved mainly from volcanic tuff from a single quarry, and are huge: 4-5 m high and weighing up to 20 tonnes, but the largest is nearly 10 m tall, and weighs 80 tonnes. Some were topped with gigantic pukao, or top-knots, of red scoria, around 2m in diameter and height and weighing 10 tonnes. Just how they were transported to their ahu, raised, and the pukao installed is unknown. The eyes of the moai were embellished with coral or shell, and red scoria pupils.

The moai at Ahu Tongariki – look carefully for the humans!