Where I’d Love To Go (again): A Trip to Easter Island

This blog is all about how I am enjoying life with my family of boys. But I also want it to be a place where we can look back at our lives, our memories and share these with the boys. 

Before the boys came along, for me and hubby travel was a big part of our lives. We loved travelling and experiencing new things, different cultures and actually getting to see things that we thought we'd only ever be able to dream of. So this year I’m focusing on 12 places that I’d love to return to in the future, but hopefully next time with the boys.

First up is one of the most memorable places I have ever been. Sitting in the Pacific Ocean, 8,349 miles from the UK is Rapa Nui, more commonly known as Easter Island.

Easter Island was a place I had always dreamed of going to. The large stone heads just intrigued me from the first time I saw them in a documentary. But being one of the most isolated places in the world though I never actually thought I’d make it there. 

However, when we were planning our wedding and honeymoon, we knew we wanted to spend our honeymoon travelling rather than relaxing on a beach. Luckily we both had jobs at the time that would allow us to take a month’s holiday all at once, so we made the most of the opportunity.

Nearly a five-hour flight from Chile (there are six per week) and nearly 6 hours from Tahiti (there is one a flight a week) it is not the easiest place to visit. However, a round-the-world airline ticket enables you to stop off at different places around the world, as long as you only travel in one direction, without going back on yourself. There are so many possibilities of where you can go, and the stop-off destinations include Easter Island.

Now, an RTW ticket is not cheap, but it was a way of being able to make it to Easter island. Instead of a wedding list, we asked guests if they wished instead to make a donation to our travel fund - it did feel a little bit cheeky but it was what we really wanted as a wedding present, and thankfully lots of people obliged.

Looking back now it is still one of the most amazing places I've ever been to and I know the boys would love it!

5 things the boys would love about Easter Island:

1. The mystery of the giant heads - oh just imagine all the questions!

2. Wave jumping and surfing - enough fun just in itself!

3. Chilling out at the beach - well for a few moments anyway!

4. Volcanoes - but thankfully extinct! 

5. Being thousands of miles from anywhere - but still connected through technology!

Easter Island

Easter Island, a Chilean territory, is a remote volcanic island in Polynesia. Rapa Nui to give it its native name is shaped like a triangle and just 14 miles long and about seven miles wide. At each of its three corners stands an extinct volcano. Some 2,300 miles from the coast of Chile, the island is one of the most isolated places on the planet. And it feels really remote too, when you are there, especially when you realise that the island's 'next-door neighbours' live on Pitcairn, over 1,200 miles to the west. It is also treeless, which coming from the UK is a strange sight to see. It is dotted with volcanoes and fringed with sandy beaches, again not expected.

We arrived after a few days rest on the South Pacific Islands of Moorea and Bora Bora, where we had been in a tropical storm (not quite the idyllic stay we had expected – but more of that another time) on the weekly flight from Tahiti and we had a few days to spend on Easter Island before heading on to South America.

It was August which in the Southern hemisphere is the winter, but the island still has an average of 19C every day. The coastline very much reminded me of Cornwall, craggy coves lashed by waves on its westerns shores – albeit a little more remote! It is treeless, dotted with volcanoes and fringed with sandy beaches and around 800 moai. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a small population of just under 6,000.

Rapa Nui is famed for archaeological sites, including nearly 900 monumental statues called moai, created by inhabitants during the 13th–16th centuries. The moai are carved human figures with oversized heads, often resting on massive stone pedestals called ahus. This is what really attracted us to visit and the 80,000 other tourists who visit every year.

Up close, they are sublimely beautiful works of art. They have long, unsmiling faces, elegant, hawk-like noses and brooding brows. And there are many places across the island where you can see them.

Ahu Tongariki

Ahu Tongariki has the largest group of upright moai. This is the most prestigious and photographed site where 15 moai stand looking towards the hills. I could see why it's the most prestigious ad photographed. It was just stunning. I can still remember being amazed at how big the statues were. Although I know the theories, have no idea of how or why they not only built but then moved these magnificent statues.

Rano Kau

We stayed just outside of Hanga Roa, walking distance from the capital and its amenities but also close to Rano Kau, an extinct volcano in the island’s south-western corner. This is the site of Orongo, the ceremonial village where the so-called Birdman cult replaced the moai at the end of the 17th century.

Rano Raraku Quarry

Rano Raraku, a quarry on a volcanic crater that contains one of the island’s crater lakes. Most of the moai were sculpted here and dozens of statues remain, a few standing, some fallen, several unfinished. These last are still connected to the rock of the mountain and are in various stages of incompletion.

Ahu Tahai Reconstruction

The stone figures originally had eyes of coral and obsidian; on the beach at Ahu Tahai near Hanga Roa, you can see how they looked thanks to a reconstruction.

Anakena Beach

Several moai stand above beaches. Anakena, on the north coast, has a platform on which stand five more or less complete moai on dunes above the beach. On the day we visited there was a downpour but on a drier, sunnier day (like in the image below) this beach attracts surfers as well as sunbathers with its swaying palms and turquoise seas.

It is a very hard place to describe. It is remote. It is barren. You don't go there for the beaches, scenery or activities on offer. But you do go for an unforgettable experience. A once in a  lifetime trip. So unforgettable in fact, that I've chosen it as the place I would most like to return to with the boys. And it has a wonderful magic about it. Our visit inspired another two couples we know to visit who both also had an amazing time.

We, of course, brought home a souvenir too, some carved moai that still have pride of place on our fireplace ...

Thinking of going? There's lots more info on Easter Island Tourism.

Easter Island is still one of the most fascinating, mysterious and unique places on earth. Our visit didn’t answer any of the questions about why the moai were built, existed and also stopped etc. but a visit there allows you to experience one of the most fascinating, mysterious and unique places on earth, and I’d love to go back!

Where is the most remote place you have been?

Deb x