Rapa Nui

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Ahu Tongariki contains the largest moais and is the most perfectly preserved ahu set on Rapa Nui.  Note that the red topknots on top of one of the moais (they all had them once) is a different type of stone from a different quarry in the central part of the island.

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This is how all moais were found by modern times visitors.  The ones standing up were put back up on the platform recently  This one, part of the Ahu One Tahiki group, reminded me of Shelley's King Ozymandias.  Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

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<>The Rano Raraku quarry, on the side of the Rano Raraku volcano, is where all moais on Rapa Nui were carved out of.  Many partly finished models lie strewn about the surrounding meadow, awaiting finishing and shipment.  It's believed that moai production ceased suddenly, as moais in all states of development from still-mostly-embedded in the stone face to finished products can be found here.

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Te Pito o Te Henua, meaning navel or centre of the world roughly translated from polynesian, may have a central place in Rapa Nui mythology, but certainly not geographically.  I needed to hitchhike on 3 successive vehicles to get to this isolate spot on the northeast shore of the island.  When I asked my last ride, a friendly family riding in the back of a pickup truck, where was Te Pito o Te Henua, the man smiled and pointed at his so.

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Even more remote than Te Pito o Te Henua was this gorgeous stone carving Vai a Heva.  When it rains heavily, water fills the mouth and then drains out the two corners of its mouth.  I needed to hitchhike aboard an ATV three wheeler of a vacationing Chilean-American teenager in order to get back to the main road.

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