Big Head Hunting in the Navel of the World

Foiled in our brave bid to conquer the south pole - by a combination of time constraints and the severe weather conditions - we hitched a ride 3700km out into the South Pacific Ocean to Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua(Easter Island)) . Often referred to as Te Pito O Te Henua(the navel of the world) due to it´s complete isolation from the rest of mankind, the island is home to around 3800 people, the vast majority of whom live in the sprawling township of Hanga Roa - where we based ourselves for 5 days.



Ever since I was knee-high to a moai (a big stone head) I´ve been fascinated by Easter Island , it´s rich, mysterious history and it´s remarkable, unique culture. Ever since Jools was knee-high to a Frescian cow, and capable of making a connection between chocolate eggs and Easter, she´s been desperate to visit Easter Island too. It was great to finally fulfill our long held childhood dreams, although Jools was slightly disappointed at the dearth of quality chocolate.

This disappointment was soon forgotten as we spent a magical 5 days exploring the barren volcanic island on foot and bike - seeking out big heads of all shapes, sizes and facial expressions, and mulling over the same questions as thousands of others before us:

Where did the original islanders come from?
How did they arrive at such an unlikely destination?
What inspired them to build the moai?
How did the islanders transport these massive statues from quarry to site?
Is this the place where Kev will complete his comeback and natural order will be resumed in the Cribbage World Tour?

Cribbage Update: No

Spanish Update: The fiercely proud (and also fiercely friendly) locals here don´t like it when you speak Spanish. While "officially" part of Chile, the indigenous islanders most certainly don´t consider themselves Chilean. After 5days of intensive lessons in the language of Rapa Nui we were just about capable of saying hello.

Rapa Nui Update: Iorana