Easter Island at Last! What started in me as a child after watching a PBS special on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) came to a crescendo as we anchored just off shore of Rapa Nui. Joy and I watched and patiently waited for the call ashore. You see the seas were restless and it was tossing the small tenders around like toys. Our Captain took a shot thinking the seas would calm as the day wore on and he gave the go ahead to allow us passengers ashore.

Joy and I waited three hours for our number to be called and it wasn't until 3:00pm that we got the call. Luckily Rapa Nui is still on the Eastern Time zone and it being summer here that we had plenty of light left. Down at the ships water line the seas looked even angrier but as we jumped when the waves pushed the tender up in minutes my bucket list item would be checked off.

We had a private tour lined up and jumped in an air conditioned van and off we went. Our guide Alexandra is an Anthropologist and a proud resident of Rapa Nui. She dumbed everything down enough so we could follow her as she explained what we were seeing. The first being one of the extinct volcanos that now holds the fresh water supply for the island.

After the volcano we visited the sacred grounds of the Rapa Nui "Birdman". An event held every year in ancient times where different tribe's strongest men swam to an adjoining island and captured a bird egg and returned it to the sacred grounds. Now in my mind I expected to see the Moai everywhere and here we were an hour into our tour and no Moai.

Next up we stopped and took a few pictures of the town down below and the Space Shuttle emergency landing runway. We headed over to the beach on the other side of the island. Here there is a restored Moai platform, sure these are Moai but not the ones I remembered as a kid. They were newer looking as they were restored. They were in original place a beach full of bathers running around not even interested in these idols. I was thrilled but not over whelmed and Joy maybe even a bit bored.

Next we were off to the quarry where these statues were mined. Finally the payoff! Up on the volcanos side were dozens of Moai, some half buried, some fallen over and some even broken. This WAS the spot! Like the first time we saw the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahl, the feeling of seeing what was just a picture in a book or TV show now was right in front of us. Even Joy was amazed at the site of these portals from a different time lying here at our feet.

Even the "Big Guy" was here, the Moai that is on every piece of literature that tells the tale of Rapa Nui. Some of these Moai are over 100 tons how did they ever move them? And imagine getting carving your Moai and the guys moving it break it as there were plenty along the Moai road that were just broke. Funny thing is that from the looks of it they just stopped making them one day some Moai were still locked in the rock unfinished. We took pictures until our cameras batteries crapped out, so many pictures that will never convey the feeling of being with these Idols.

Back in our van I drank my first Rapa Nui beer as we cruised back to our ship down the Moai road. The road littered with broken Moai and Moai knocked over by a tidal wave back in the sixties. Did you know that the Moai face away from the ocean to protect the families that owned the Idol from spirits and as a tribute to their ancestors?

Racing back to our ship we caught the last tender back to our new home on the Pacific too soon Rapa Nui was fading into the distance like a friend leaving your driveway, watching their taillights fade into the night. Everybody on the ship was tired, hungry but just a little bit richer for the decision of our Captain to allow us ashore.

Six more sea days ahead of us the eat competition continues. I entered a golf competition and Joy continues to rack up prizes from her trivia team even winning so much that they have been accused of cheating. Bora Bora is our next stop and hopefully the internet will allow us to upload some pictures.