Pancakes for breakfast and then we were off on hired bikes around the West coast of the island in the glorious sunshine! We passed and admired the moai that we had visited the day before and the first new site was of many fallen moai and the outline of the boat houses where the villagers lived.
Many of the moai were pushed over (it is presumed by the islanders) in the 17th century during the bloody war between the 2 clans on the island over limited resources.
We then turned inland to visit Ana Te Pahu , walked down through the banana, sweet potatoes and taro garden to the caves made from lava which had amazing natural circular windows in the roof. After our cave exploration it was back on the bikes and a short ride round to Ahu Akivi, where seven moai overlook a former village, unusually not facing to the sea (the site has proved to be of astronomical significance as at the equinox the seven statues look directly at the setting sun). We stopped and had a picnic lunch here before heading southwest to Ahu Vinapu (beside the airport) where bizarely there are inca style rocks forming the platform on which the fallen moai stood.
The last site of the day was Ranu Kau, 400m uphill, sweaty work! Rano Kau is a spectacular volcanic crator lake that is covered in floating totra reeds, making it look like an image of earth from space, beautiful! After resting and taking in the view we hopped back on the saddle for the downhill fun.
A couple of beers, some vino on the terrace and a cheap and cheerful home cooked pasta dinner marked the end of another happy day on Rapa Nui.
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