To Rano Raraku or Bust

During the night, we were wakened with strong winds. Not consistent winds but gusts that made the cottage creak. We weren't afraid for our safety, but all I could think of was that we were about to make our second attempt to leave at dawn and ride to the quarry, Rano Raraku. The quarry is where the Moai had been carved. The other thought on my mind was that we were living on the leeward side of the island and our route was going to be on the windward side. So if the winds were bad here, it's probably unbikeable there. We had had some bad luck yesterday with a flat tire on my bike, and things weren't shaping up any better for today.

We were about a half hour late getting on the road. The original plan called for us to be on the far side of the island to see the sunrise. Riding out the lane, it was not only still windy but it was drizzling rain. I rationalized us carrying on by recalling that on the Island it often drizzled but it didn't amount to much.

After a kilometer or two, the drizzle stopped and the winds moderated somewhat, but we knew not to expect too much, as the day's forecast was for 30 km/h winds. After getting through town, we headed directly into them for the 3 km peddle to the far side of the island. As it turned out, due to cloud cover, there hadn't been a pretty sunrise so we hadn't missed anything. As we turned northeast, we got some relief from the wind which was still coming directly out of the east. At that point, a quick assessment of the situation told us our trip was probably doable. The only known risk was that we were travelling without a spare tube because the bike shop hadn't opened since we installed the spare yesterday. I had a backup plan to repair the next flat using tape if necessary. I had never tried it, and I knew it was an ify concept, but it gave us a sense  of security, though it may have been false.

We arrived at the quarry by 10 or so, thankful the weather had held and our gamble had paid off. Information provided at the entrance indicated there were almost 400 Moai in the immediate vicinity of the quarry. All were in the process of being carved or moved when things came to a halt about 400 years ago. It's believed that work stopped due to the lack of rope and trees for rollers, to move them. To that point in history, about 600 Moai had been transported up to 25 kms to almost every part of the island. As a result of the process coming to a quick end, the remains in the quarry showed every stage of development except how they were transported. Analysis of evidence has lead to a few theories though.

From our challenge getting to the quarry by bicycle, we got an appreciation for the distance and terrain many of the Moai had travelled. In our case, it was "to the quarry or bust". In the case of the Rapi Nui people, they felt the same about moving their Moai. By the way, many Moai did fall and break on route to their destination. Those were just left to die beside the road, and remain there today.

For more information on the history of the Maoi, Google search "Easter Island Moai".

Click here for the next story in this series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2013/10/final-rapa-nui-adventure.html