Hi everyone! Ciao from Chile! Our flight to Easter Island left from Calama in Northern Chile and, as bus services between here and Argentina are limited, we needed to come back to Chile a few days beforehand. Once again, we stopped en route in San Pedro de Atacama, where, as on our previous visit, the chance to eat, drink & be merry with new friends, both locals and travellers alike, was more appealing than taking a tour to see more gorges and geysers! Whilst here, we were finally introduced to the art of drinking "mate" by Michael and Kelly, and English/Australian couple at our hostel. Having seen many people sharing the same mug of tea leaf mush and continually refilling it with hot water, we were intrigued to try it ourselves, especially in an environment where intimate knowledge of all the customs and traditions was less important. In return, we entertained them that evening with our renditions of duets from musicals, unaware that our dulcet tones were not confined to our room, but could in fact be heard throughout the hostel! The journey to Easter Island did not go as well as planned. Firstly, the bus to Calama ran out of fuel. Secondly, accommodation in Calama was more scarce and expensive than we had anticipated. Thirdly, our hopes of chilling out in the business lounge at Santiago airport (as on our way to La Paz) were dashed. Despite having the necessary credentials we were unable to get from the domestic to international terminal where the lounge was situated, and could only gaze wistfully at it through locked glass doors! Finally we were not allocated seats next to each other on the plane, though we resolved this by persuading another passenger to swap seats. Adversities overcome and we were rewarded with an excellent in flight entertainment system with a selection of great films and also computer games such as "Who Want to be a Millionaire" and "Tetris"... so much to do and so little time! We had not pre-booked any accommodation on Easter Island, but this was no problem. On entering the arrivals hall, we were greeted by a hive of activity as guesthouse touts lined up along the wall vying for our business. We picked well, as the B&B where we were staying had two friendly cats. There was also a jeep that we could make use of for a small fee, which we did, as there was no other way to get around the island. Leaving Hanga Roa, (Easter Island's only town) behind, we set off in search of the famous moai (huge carved stone statues). The moai are dotted along the coastline and though most have toppled over, some of them have been restored to their former glory. The most impressive was Ahu Tongariki, a row of 15 moai standing on the largest platform built and set in a beautiful location. Equally impressive was Rano Raraku, an extinct volcano. It is referred to as "the nursery" because this is where all of the islands moai are thought to have been 'born', cut out of the volcano's outer slopes. Nowadays there are still loads of finished moai standing and lying on the hillside as well as many partially carved figures jutting out of the rockface, including a 21m giant (most are 5m-10m). Continuing on we reached 'Te Pito Kura', a really smooth rounded stone, whose name means "the navel of the world". Amongst other stories, this stems from the islanders' ancient belief than Rapa Nui (the Polynesian name for Easter Island) was the centre of the earth. Further along the coast was Anakena, the island's only decent beach. It was a stunning spot with palm trees, white sand, turquoise waters and several statues, one a lonely moai on the hillside and a well preserved group of six, standing majestically on the beach. The one stain on the landscape was the BBQ lunch being held for a large contingient of European OAPs. Fortunately, their tour bus could not go where our 4x4 could and we escaped them by heading to the centre, and highest point on the island. This involved a great bit of off-roading, and we were rewarded with some fabulous panoramic views from the top. The island itself was really quite beautiful, with much more flora than we had expected, green rolling hills, and a jagged coastline - rather like Wales or Cornwall (some might say like Tresco!!!). There were also several extinct volcanos punctuating the landscape. We went up one of these (Rano Kau) one evening to catch the sunset. We were awestruck by the vastness of the crater lake, which was more than one kilometre wide and the steepness of the volcano slopes. Another evening, we watched a screening of the Kevin Costner film, "Rapa Nui", at a hotel in Hanga Roa. This gave an account of one of the possible explanations for the creation and subsequent destruction of the moai and the deforestation of the land. Basically it suggests the moai were carved to honour their ancestors, the trees were cut down to transport them from the nursery to their positions around the coast, and they were destroyed following a civil war between the two tribes on the island, the long-ears and the short-ears. A good couple of hours' entertainment whilst on the island, but we would not recommend it to you unless you were here! Next stop: French Polynesia, with some island hopping from Tahiti to Moorea, Huahine & Bora Bora. Hope you are all well, love, Kirstie & Zena