18:45 - Breakfast gets served to the room here in Tea Nui :-), which is very nice indeed. I got picked up at aound 9.30 for the first of two tours today. Sabina (the guide) took us around the Akivi Moai's in the morning and Orongo in the afternoon. I took myself off for lunch in a shack overlooking the sea and had tuna ceviche (again). It was very nice. I then went for a walk in the little harbour nearby and could not resist having some ice cream. Although the choice of flavours was limited I was surprised that the quality was on a par with some of the best ice creams I have ever had! The most amazing things about today, for me, were the 7 moai (Ahu Tepeu) and the crater at Orongo (Rano Kau). It's been a long and very windy day. In about an hour I get picked up for a local folklore evening: food/music/face painting...got to go and shower!
00:30 - The driver turned up pretty much on time and took us to the restaurant (Te Ra'ai) where we would spend the evening being entertained. First of all we were offered a drink and our faces were painted by a couple of the locals dressed up (or should I say down) in cerimonial costume. Whilst that was going on the curando was cooking. The curando I'd already had in Chiloè, although it was a slightly different version. The food still gets cooked underground on some heated stones. The main man (the eldest and chubbier one) explained about their culture, ancestors etc and then proceeded in opening up the pit to get the cooked food out. It looked pretty good! Whilst they prepared the buffet, we were split in boys and girls and taught a couple of local dances :-). Luckily we were soon called to order and went in to eat. At my table there were two guys from the states, a spanish man and his parents and 4 girls (2 from mexico and 2 chileans). We had a little chit chat and found out a little about where we were from...the usual stuff. The spanish chap had recently been transferred by Santander to Santiago (he works in IT) and was taking his parents for his mother's birthday, to easter island. The american next to me worked in advertising in New York and seemed pretty nice. The food was good but the wine almost undrinkable. Having finished eating we were ushered through to the theatre next door where we sat through the show put together in local costumes. It was great! Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the last 20 minutes very much as I was trying not to fall asleep. Not having managed to sleep very well the night before, my eyes kept trying to close! It was quite a battle. Luckily I am now on my bed and about to say...night night!