6th December – Santiago Hotel to Easter Island

I was reluctantly dragged awake at 5.30, though, all moaning aside, the wake-up call makes all the difference in preventing fitful sleeps when one has less than 5 hours in bed.

Matt realised he’d left his swimming trunks at the pool yesterday and so I called reception to see if they had found them. I had to explain to the guy on reception a few times. He was initially very shocked and thought Matt had left the pool without any shorts on at all. I straddled the line between amused and embarrassed at requesting a skanky pair of shorts be returned from a high-class swimming pool. I soon tipped the balance however as the housekeeper, who delivered them to the door very shortly after, had them hanging on the tip of his finger and looked nothing short of appalled.

Breakfast was better than all other food they’d inflicted on us so far but still very deceptive-looking. I find it so confusing when food looks so good but tastes so horrid. I was beginning to fear for our time on the island - if that was all the Chileans could dish up with such extensive access to resources, I dreaded to think what it would be like on the most remote inhabited island in the world.

Along with our recent companions, we were reassured that we were going to actually get there when the car to the airport arrived on time and check-in was uneventful. I was especially relieved when Matt made it through the flight without any shenanigans and we both even managed a bit of sleep.

A few hours later, we circled Easter Island as the plane aligned with the runway. It was a great photo opportunity but I was also juggling with the camera of a nearby lady who’d asked me to take some pictures and so they were probably not as good as I’d like them to be.

On the ground we found ourselves at the least airport-like airport ever. It was just a small wooden building surrounded by palm-trees and totally lacking in any of the equipment and contraptions of modern airports. We walked down the steps of the plane, across the runway, past the wooden, handmade sign post which signalled where to go for transfers and into what felt like little more than a tourist info centre.

I was delighted when we were greeted with luxuriously heavy flower garlands by Victoriano and left to wait for our bags – the retrieval process for which still involved the same amount of unnecessary elbowing, pushing and shoving as the typical international hub.

I took my beautiful garland off and placed it carefully on a counter so that I could apply my sunscreen, onky to turn round and find that someone had nicked it!! Since so many people were wearing them and there is only so much variety you can get in flower garlands, I couldn’t identify the culprit. I seemed unable to stop myself gomping and grumping as I climbed into the car. Victoriano disappeared for a while and came back with a flimsy synthetic one. I was delighted! It was so sweet of him to get it and because it wasn’t made of real flowers, it meant I could take it as a momento.

The sense that the airport was just a pretend model one was increased as instead of the usual motorway journey, we literally drove around the corner and along for a block before reaching Tipani Moana campsite. There we were give a very thorough introduction by Benjamin, the owner and one of the islands very few full-time navy officers.

Keen to see more of the island, we walked into the main area of Hanga Roa, the only town on the whole island. We saw our first Moai, Ahu Tautira, right in the centre over-looking the sea. It was a little odd to see it right next to a restaurant and with a view of surfers behind it.

Further down the road we came across another piece of unexpected modernity – the park gym. I remember seeing these apparatuses for the first time in China, and being absolutely delighted by them. When I came home I went for a walk with my mum in Poolsbrook country park and was approached by a woman doing research on how the park might be improved. I put it forward as an idea and the woman seemed to be as thrilled as I had been about such a ‘unique’ concept. After a few more weeks in Derbyshire, I realised that China was not so exceptional and that, in fact, the park gym had already gained quite a lot of ground in the UK. We have since seen lots of them. How entertaining that such a notion may have made its way to this secluded patch in the distant reaches of the Pacific Ocean but had still not penetrated the deep, dark recesses of Poolsbrook.

So anyway, we had a lovely time playing on the gym by the sea and observing the enthusiasm of a local man who really went for it and a bunch of local dogs who were equally as keen.

We walked further around the coast in search of more Moais. We found a few clustered together with some carvings. We were quite impressed by one with eyes and carvings on its back, until we clicked that it was on a steel platform, looked quite new and was facing the wrong way.

At lunch time, my fear of a lack of anything decent to eat materialised. The prices of food in the restaurants was severely prohibitive and the supermarkets, though abundant in number, were predictably limited. We were hoping that there might be lots of tasty fresh produce grown on the island but suspected from the brown, wilting nature of what we saw, that it had taken the same journey as us – including the delay of being bumped off the flight!

After a nice afternoon nap in stifling tent heat, we went back out to see more of the Moais. A cluster of different structures were easily accessible from the town, featuring Ahu Ko Te Riku, Ahu Tahai and Ahu Bai Ure: known to us as, ‘the big one with eyes’, ‘the middle one with no eyes’ and the ‘row of five’, respectively. Our inability to pronounce their names did nothing to diminish the grandeur and gravity of watching the sun set behind them. The feat of man combined with the triumph of nature was awe-inspiring.