Easter Island - Anakena

Heading north, I passed Poike, an extinct volcano and the oldest of the main three on the island. Poike used to be an island initially until it was joined by lava flows from Taraveka, the biggest volcano located north of the island. 

Following the bend in the road, I turned left and carried on to about halfway between the bend and Anakena Beach. A dirt road led to the Te Pito Kura archaeological complex in front of the Bay La Pérouse where the tallest, once-standing, Moai known as Paro lies. Believed to be commissioned by a widow for her late husband, Paro is 33ft (10m) tall and weighs about 80 tonnes. His ears alone are 6.5ft (2m) long. Unfortunately, Paro was toppled face down during the tribal wars and he split in two. His 10 tonnes pukao (hat) lies beside the head. 

A short distance from Paro is a large egg-shaped stone about 80cm in diameter, referred to as Te Pito O Te Henua, meaning “navel of the world”. Legend says that Hotu Matu’a, brought the stone with him from his native land because it was believed that it held a supernatural energy called mana. 

Back on the road, I continued to Anakena Beach where Hotu Matu’a made his first landing. Anakena is a pristine white beach with turquoise seas lapping on its shores. In the centre of the beach is the beautifully preserved Ahu Nau Nau, topped with seven Moai of which four are fully intact and wearing the pukao. They were restored in the late 1970s and placed back on the ahu. Because the statues were toppled prior to restoration, over time they were covered by sand. This in turn protected them from erosion and saved the detailed engravings on their back. 

To the right of the beach is a singular Moai known as Ahu Ature Huki. This was the first statue to be re-erected using traditional methods. Explorer Thor Heyerdahl, stayed on the island in the mid-1950s and he encouraged the islanders to raise the statue. Using wooden poles, stones and ropes, it took a dozen men eighteen days to place the statue back on the ahu.

Anakena was also an important gathering place for the masters of the rongorongo scripture, a writing system based on glyphs carved on wood or tablets. There are theories about its origins but there is no evidence to substantiate any of them. It is an interesting writing style because the odd lines are written left to right and the even lines are written right to left and upside down. In order to read the even lines, the tablet has to be turned 180 degrees. No one has been able to decipher the system yet. The majority of the tablets were destroyed and the few that survived, about 27, reside in museums around the world. No original pieces are left on Easter Island. 

Leaving the sunny beach of Anakena, I began my westward journey back towards Hanga Roa with a stopover at Puna Pau.