Our 115 day World Cruise, day 17, Easter Island

This port is absolutely wonderful...it makes me want to move here! lol!
Today, again, we went to Starbucks but at least we sat in a different configuration!  Tis is a biggy for us as we always have to have OUR table!
The young man at the next table was kind enough to take our picture.

                  Yes it is actually true.....we sat on the couch.  It was nice and it was different too!

After we had breakfast we went to the Container Store....I forgot to take a picture.  We enjoyed looking around and they were having a big sale on creating closet space and so we signed up.  They will install on the 30th.  You will get to see the pictures then.  This is one of the things on  our"to do list" for the condo.  I would like to check it off the list as done but....I don't know how to make a check mark on my mini iPad!  lol!

It was really exciting as our next stop was to my favorite resturant " True Foods"!  We were able to sit outside and we both ordered our favorite thilngs.

                       There was a waiting list but they sent us a text when it was time to come back!

              

     
                                               This is Vicki's Spaghetti Squash Casserole

 This is my wonderful chopped spinach and chicken salad!  I have never ordered anything else because I love this salad sooo much!  Vicki is the same way about her choice too!

Off we go to look for the right purse .  We found a sale on some travel purses and we both got one plus one to wear in port when we are not taking our mini's with us.  Vicki's purse is on the left and her mini right below it.  My purse on the right has 2 compartments, one is lined for the iPad.  My mini purse is red and Vicki's is black

  Next we were off to the Walking Store.  We walked and walked and finally found it!  Vicki found 2 pairs of shoes!

                                            There it is.....finally........We are all walked out!                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                 

                            Now I think her feet won't hurt.  Anyway we hope they won't hurt!

                                                           Enough is enough!                                                                                                        
                             

                           We are out of here....I have to go home and rest up for dinner!                                                                                              

                                This is our friend Lou....He went on our Ruby cruise with us!

                                                               OMG....not again!   Too much food!

It was very nice having dinner with Lou.  We talked about our travels and did some travel wishing!  Lou retired in August and he is trying to get used to the idea of not working.  I think it is working for him because he is going going going!


                                    Well, it is time to see where the Amsterdam went today

Where we did not go today....but the Amsterdam did...

Easter Island, Chile  Photos from Jeff's World of Adventures, blog.  Narrative from Kween Karen's blog!

Monday January 21, 2013

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian Triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumen- tal statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site (as determined by UNESCO) with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park. In recent times the island has served as a warn- ing of the cultural and environmental dangers of overexploitation. Ethnogra- phers and archaeologists also blame diseases carried by European colonizers and slave raiding of the 1860s for devastating the local peoples.

Easter Island is claimed to be the most remote inhabited island in the world.

Easter Island is high on my list of places I REALLY want to see on this trip. It is also one of those places that the ship of- ten has to cancel due to high swells and unfavorable landing sites for the tenders. There were 3 different plans for possi- ble anchoring sites.......I held my breath until we actually dropped anchor and (after a wait) boarded the tender. A group of 13 Cruise Critic folks caught tender number 2 and headed for shore. Whew!! It was a rough job to get into the tender and then a rough ride to shore. We were very lucky because shortly after noon the captain had to cancel any fur- ther tenders taking people to shore....all afternoon HAL tours were cancelled and MANY people were never able to actually set foot on Easter Island. In addition to that.....it had rained here for several days and was still raining hard at 7:00 am. Then the sun came out and we had a gorgeous day. Our tour was nearly 6 hours long and we saw pretty much everything there is to see on Easter Island. One famous thing to do is to watch the sun rise over the island......I went out on the promenade deck this morning just in time to see that. Beautiful.With over 800 of the famous Moai statues on this island they seem to be everywhere. We went to ALL the well known sites. The Moai all have similar features though the signifi- cance of the face and deep set eyes isn’t known.

                                                                

They are carved from soft volcanic rock...beginning at Rana Ra- raku Quarry. At the quarry many Moai are still buried, half carved, fallen or standing ready to be taken to their places around the island. The reasons and methods remain a mystery....all are enormous and many are more than 18 feet tall.

                                                              

                                                           

Another stop was the well known place where the long row of standing Moais are always photographed against the ocean. SO impressive. Moais always face inward from the sea...protecting ceremonial grounds in front of them.

We stopped at one of 2 white sand beaches on the island.....gorgeous water...and of course....more Moais!!

We had a bit of time at the beach for some lunch, vendors and looking at the beauty.

                                         

                           

                   

Another site near the town of Hanga Roa had great Moais with the ship behind them. Great view!! There were some native dancers

just finishing up a show for a HAL tour......I tried to get a shot.

Our last stop was the largest crater on the island there are 3. It was huge and beautiful. New medicines are being created from its waters.

         

After a WONDERFUL day we made our way back to the ship. HAL had organized seats under tents to wait for tenders. The ride back was VERY ROUGH!!! .

 What a wonderful day they had!  
It sounds like this is a very  special place!

SORRY EVERYONE....4 SEA DAYS COMING UP....HANG IN THERE!  

                                     

                                                                                          Sorry but there are 5 sea days ahead!  I will contribute some of our photos for the next port!