Easter Island

The not insignificant effort that went into securing a Chilean visa so I could disembark at Easter Island all came to nought. The weather was the foulest it could be. When we reached the island's coast the seas were throwing up a four to six metre swell and we were besieged by constant squalls so it was just not safe to launch the tenders to go ashore. 

This place is in the middle of Bum Fuck Nowhere. People complain about how long it takes to get to Lightning Ridge. Well the Ridge is a doddle compared to Easter Island. The nearest inhabited land is Pitcairn Island which is 2075 Kms away and it only has about 50 people living on it. The closest town with a population greater than 500 is Rikitea which is 2606 kms away, and the nearest continental land mass is Chile which is 3512 Kms away. If you drive from Perth to Sydney that is about 3,931 kms by comparison. 

We arrived at about 9.45am and headed for what passes for the harbour. As there are no docks that could handle a ship of this size the only way to make it to shore would be by tender. As the weather prevented that option the best that could be done was getting the ship to turn on its own axis using the side thrusters. That gave everyone a chance to see that part of the shoreline from all points of the ship. It was an impressive party trick to watch, as the thrusters slowly turned us around and the current took us gently to the south west. Once we had done our pirouette we headed out to the three mile mark and proceeded to circumnavigate the island. 

Fortunately I had some binoculars with me and the statues that Easter Island is famous for, known as Moai, were pretty easy to spot from the ship. There are almost 1,000 of them scattered across the island,  in various states of disrepair. The ones still standing are nearly all facing inwards, ostensibly to protect the villages and the people. The few facing out are set at the higher points of the island and are to protect Easter Island itself. 

Four hours after we arrived it was all over. The ship headed west and we were on our way towards Pitcairn Island, a two and a half day sail away. Upon arrival we will have no choice but to do the same style of circumnavigation again if we wish to see anything of Pitcairn. 

Now however I have more important things on my mind. I'm off to the bar.