Easter Island birthday treat

Wednesday 12th
Pretty well recovered from our excursion and all set for day one of a series of sea days on our way to Easter Island.  The weather has turned rough and we are pitching and rolling a fair bit. Another "sale", so I got another T shirt and Vivian a couple of blouses.

Other than that, coffee, bridge, dinner and more sleep.  Captain issued a veiled warning on our impending visit to Easter Island, by reminding us that we left 2.5 hours late and the weather is rougher than expected. So we'll see how it all pans out.

Thursday 13th
At last I completed the MP blog post, before I completely forget the finer details!!   Yet another sea day and the usual activities.  Captain today is "hopeful" of our arrival on Sunday, but interestingly there was some confusion on the time zones and thus our arrival will be an hour later than previously anticipated. I don't think it will affect our planned trip in the afternoon.  A bit more sociable tonight - went to the show, a multi talented singer/musician. Not used to late nights!

Friday 14th
Horrors, it is 9.00 when we wake up and a big scramble to get to breakfast before they close. The thing is that Vivian's bridge is at 10.00 today for some reason. Just as well we have reverted to tea & toast!  Back to the deck circuit and although some high cloud, is actually a very pleasant morning.

Had lunch with Christine & Mark 2 and ended up with a group of about a dozen outside the dining room at almost 3.00 - what you might call a long lunch. Being virtuous, I accompanied Vivian on yet another mile walk around the deck before adjourning for our belated coffee.

It's formal night again tonight, yet no one knows why as it wasn't originally programmed. However went to the early show with Maureen & Wyn and they came back to share our canapés before dinner.

Saturday 15th
Go the All Blacks. Woke up about 8.00 and logged on to see the news, which was far better than last time.  They are having another brunch this morning and it doesn't really excite us, particularly as it doesn't start until 10.30, so we got room service.

The sea is calm, but the odd rain shower is passing through. Temperature this morning is 20 degrees, which is just right. I see we are "tootling" along at over 20 kts, so Captain Kent is trying really hard to ensure we reach Easter Island on time. He was very positive last night telling us that we'll anchor on the western side of the island with forecast nor easterlies. Watch this space.

Pizza lunch and then watched the premiere of the Machu Picchu video, which is great. Vivian finished their bridge tournament and we took her partner Danny to the Wheelhouse Bar, which was an eye opener.  2 for 1 from 3.00 to 4.00, which we have always rubbished, but it turns out you can get miniature bottles of bubbles for $4!!!  Enough to put away for a rainy day! 

The sun is shining and the sea is an inky colour as we continue westward. Sad to think that we are down to just 2 weeks left, yet we are still meeting people who have been on board for over 80 days.

Big surprise at dinner as our Head Waiter, JP had organised a lemon meringue pie, which we'd been trying to get since Heather's birthday, ages ago. Amaaazing!  When Vivian tried to organise it earlier they wanted $80!  Just shows what a good head waiter can do.  Mr Wolfgang, the other head waiter Vivian had approached was somewhat true to his Sgt Schultz image, as "knew nothink". All's well that ends well I say.

Sunday 16th
Birthday boy today!!  Woke up about 7.00 and it is pitch black. Had room service cuppa & a shower, still black outside. It seems that they keep the time in the Chilean zone, but we are well over 1,000 miles west of that.  The good news is that we should have a nice long evening tonight. BTW, the clock goes back tonight. 

It was 9.00 before we did the " rattle rattle, splash " which is Captain Kent's description of anchoring!  The Chilean authorities have pretty well done everything to give us grief, from making us move anchorage 3 times to only allowing 1 tender boat (150 capacity) at a time.  The other thing is the National Park charge of US$60. This was charged, them we were told it was not going to be charged, but then today the Parliament in Chile have said they are charging!!  Today is the first day of charging since March - aren't we lucky. Given that the island has no exports and relies on tourism, it is sure a good way to annoy a few thousand customers.

Shouted ourselves a full breakfast for a change and later a coffee as we were not in a hurry to go ashore, particularly as the morning tours would have priority and our tour is not until the afternoon. Vivian however was getting anxious and was sure that we would never make it, I preferred to go with the flow.  Had an early pizza (again) and wandered down to get our tender tickets from the Elite Lounge (sorry, couldn't resist that!).

Long story short, we were ashore just after 1.00 and our revised tour was 2.20, so had time to wander. To be honest there was not a lot to see so we ambled the coastal road for half an hour and then back again. There were market stalls set up by the wharf, so we contributed $5 to the local economy. Silly thing is that much of the stuff for sale was untreated wood. 

We almost didn't make it ashore as our tender driver just about crashed our tender boat onto the rocks - it is a very narrow channel and the current and wind was quite strong. Fortunately there were spotters onboard who yelled out at him before disaster struck.

We were fortunate with our tour and selected a smaller bus/van, which was air conditioned!  Firstly we went to the bottom end of the island to the birdman area. This is where in old times the ruler of the island was selected each year by the winner of a competition to scale down the cliffs, swim a couple of kilometres in shark infested waters to the islands off the mainland, collect a specific bird's egg, and return!

Following that we visited the large crater and its water features. Then a drive to the middle of the island to see the 7 Moai (statues) facing out to sea. All in all a good trip. Of interest also is the airport, with its runway extending the whole width of the island. It was extended by NASA as an emergency landing strip for the space shuttle programme, but never used.

Although part of Chile, Easter Island is very much Polynesian in looks and culture. There is no unemployment, and many are quite happy with their little plot of land, and an animal or two. The land away from the coast is very fertile and there are lots of small plots, growing a variety of vegetables, pineapples and other crops for local consumption.

Had a delightful birthday celebration culminating in the singing of "Happy Birthday" by a large number of waiters in the dining room.  Good stuff as we can repeat the whole procedure for my twin, Mark, whose birthday is tomorrow!!