Hanga Roa is the only town on Easter Island. The airport which stretches the eight kilometre width of the island is located within walking distance of the town.

Janine an English lady we met whilst travelling in Argentina had just started to settle into life on the island. She has moved here to be with her partner Rafael. As we arrived into the airport Janine was already waiting to greet us. "Welcome! Rafael and I would like to invite you to come and stay in our home". We were so happy to see a familiar friendly face and couldn't believe our luck.

A good place for sunset is the standing moai just to the outskirts of the town.

Moai in town	A good place to surf	Sunset

A glorious beach, located at the opposite end of the island to Hanga Roa. Moais stand facing out to see in the background. It is a wonderful place.

We visited the beach twice, once by hire car on Valentine's Day and the second time on hired bikes. We were the only ones there on Valentine's Day morning which made it feel the most romantic place on earth.

Cycling 18km, first 14km up hill, the last 4 km speeding down hill with views of the sea in front of us. On the way back after spending the afternoon sunbathing and swimming we were lucky to be offered a lift with our bikes on our lorry, making a short stop to pick some figs off a tree.

Moai	the beach

The birdman site. This is the best location on the island for watching the sunset.

Orongo is within walking distance (1hr 45mins) of Hanga Roa and you might get lucky with a lift offered.

The site consists of several houses built into the ground with small entrances (somewhat similar to hobbiton!) and a viewing platform to see some rocks with birdman and other petroglyphs.

Birdman carving	The birdman challenge	Sunset

The location of 15 standing moai. An ideal setting for sunrise (0720 am). Unfortunately some restoration work was occuring whilst we were there.

Easter Island is said to be the Navel of the world.

A two week festival occurs at the beginning of feb each year. We were lucky to catch the last few days of it.

This is where the moai were carved and where many still lie scattered or not yet completely carved from the quarry rock.

Seven Moai stand facing towards the sea. This is the group of Moai which do not face into the island.

Staying with Janine, Rafael and his brother Jonathon. Valentine's Day. Missing our flight by a day. Dinner with a former Easter Island Queen.