On-the-Road Tales

Went hiking down towards the airport in hopes of finding some Moai as shown on my map. After hours of walking in the sweltering heat and running out of water, I still had not achieved my goal. Rapa Nui maps suck and signposts are virtually nonexistent. An English couple who had hired a car and passed me several times obviously in an attempt to find the same things I was looking for finally gave up and stopped to ask me if I wanted a lift. I jumped at the chance and headed back into town. I went down to the harbor to sit and relax and watch the surfers battle the high swelling waves and deftly avoid the jagged rocks around the coast. I sat enjoying the tranquil view…for the short while it lasted. I noticed a red gasoline can float by and I thought it odd considering the pristine waters around. When a can of peaches floated by I thought something is really not right here. I wondered how far away a ship could wreck and the remnants would turn up in the harbor. As I busied myself calculating currents and winds I suddenly noticed 3 people clinging to a surfboard directly in front of me. Now that certainly was not normal. In the next instant, a large dingy was getting ripped across the rocks in the harbor reluctantly dragging and bashing the motor on the journey. The surfer was doing his best to steer his surfboard occupants away from the same fate. I hopped up debating between jumping in or calling out for help. Luckily, the islanders noticed it simultaneously and started gathering. In the meanwhile, groceries, rucksacks and all sorts of stuff were meandering by.

It seemed like a long few minutes but finally the couple and surfer were on safe ground. Soggy and shaken but unharmed. In the meantime, the Navy showed up on land and a boat launched to get the items still visible. The couple, German I would guess, spoke no spanish but had English so I made sure they were OK and did not need medics etc. (not that this necessarily would have been available anyway but…). Turns out they had been shopping and were returning to the their sailboat when there motor quit. With the nasty waves and current they quickly lost the battle against heading for the rocks and they had forgotten their paddle. They were planning on bailing out and clinging to a buoy but apparently things happened too fast. The authorities wanted the papers but that little rucksack that floated away contained all their documents. Bad deal. All I can say after seeing those waves is that someone was watching over them – they were seriously lucky they were not hurt. This is the second time during this trip where near disaster has landed literally at my feet. Air, Water…Not looking forward to what is next!

Went to watch some Moai be silhouetted at sunset. Lovely. I returned to the spot after it was dark because I was told these statues were lit up at night. Wrong. Lots of tourist centre info regarding the isalnd is not so correct. Not a loss, I got to watch the amazing sky. The island is like a planeterium, not much dark to disturb stargazing so the constellations and milky way were fab. Had thee most amazing tuna I have ever tasted! The fisherman pull right up to the restaurants and unload the fresh tuna from the trunk of the taxi (yes this was actually witnessed) Can not get much fresher…

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2007 at 2:42 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.