Tuesday 10th February
Cruising by Easter Island
This afternoon we are due to cruise by Easter Island. We are not stopping unfortunately, but will sail slowly by about a mile from shore. Easter Island or Rapa Nui is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The nearest inhabited island is Pitcairn which is 1,289 miles away. It is hot here and the Pacific Ocean is a deep blue - very lovely. The island is called Easter Island as a Dutch explorer arrived here on Easter Sunday 1722. It is famous for its statues - Moai. They were carved out of solidified volcanic ash between 1100 & 1680. Before we got to the island our captain told us that we had a medical emergency on board and that we would be anchored off the island while they transferred the passenger to shore by tender. They would then be flown back in an ambulance plane to Chile. Captain told us that the runway here on Easter Island was built as an alternative landing area for the space shuttle. There is only one small town here so we anchored just in front of it and we could see one end of the runway just next to it. We could also just about see a few Moai statues near the town. When the tender returned we still had time to sail close to shore in the hope of seeing more Moai statues. You needed binoculars and even then it was difficult to see them. The photo shows lots of Moai but it is difficult to see them clearly. This place is near to the quarry where they were carved but these ones were never placed around the island.
We have lots more days at sea and will be passing Pitcairn Island in a couple of days before we get to our next port on the 16th.