Wo/Man's Best Friend

Pets are truly a great companion. Take Sparkles for example; she's a lovely border collie/lab mix that's just full of energy and love. She'll walk with you when you want to walk, she'll play with you when you feel like throwing the ball around, and most importantly, she'll sleep beside you when you're sleeping. Those big puppy eyes will always melt your heart when she's staring up at you.

Tiny Features

I don't have kids of my own right now, so in the meantime, I feed off the cuteness from my friend's kids instead.

I recently visited my friend of 20+ years to see her and her husband's two month old daughter as well as her two year old son, and what wonderful kids they are! I didn't hear a peep from the two month old, and the little guy is so smart! It was a pleasure to meet the family, and it'll be nice seeing them grow up! Thanks again!

Winter is Looming

With winter coming up and the daylight savings time now in effect, the sun is setting earlier and earlier; the picture below was taken just after 5:00pm. Also, with winter coming up, the weather is getting colder and colder which means less outdoor photo shoots and photo ops! Well, not necessarily…I just have to find the ones out there who enjoy the winter and don’t mind smiling for me while standing outside in the cold! 

The Colours of Fall

Debbie and Song are well on their way for their wedding in August 2012; their major vendors and details have been booked and planned out. One thing they wanted to check off their list was a quick photo shoot! They wanted a fall session as well as a spring session, so as the leaves were in full fall colours, we went out where the leaves were plenty and snapped a few shots.

Summary

And so ends the trip notes of our adventure -- and that's exactly what it was, an adventure. From slight plane/airport mix-ups to different types of sickness to unseasonal weather, the amazing picture opportunities, beautiful scenery, never ending history, and the new friends and laughter made up for any negativity.

Many people asked if we would go again, and the answer was always yes. There was so much more that we didn't see and learn. The many species of animals would take months and months to see and learn at Galapagos and the history of Easter Island is never ending.

The memories of our trip will be ever lasting in our minds and now we get to finally say "yes, we've been there".

Day 14 - October 13, 2011

Last full day in Easter Island :(

Today was a half day tour which started at 9:00am, visited sites, got a two hour break for lunch and lounging, and then got picked back up afterwards to finish off the tour.

In the morning, we visited Orongo, a stone village and ceremonial centre. Orongo is located at the top of the crater called Rano Kau. The edge of Rano Kau drops almost 300 meters to the water below and has a breathtaking view of the rock formations. History has it that competitions would be held each year starting at the top of Rano Kau; competitors would have to get to rock formations and fetch an egg of a frigate bird, and bring it back. The winner would be the leader of the area for a year until the next competition.

We visited a few other sites in the afternoon, most notably Ahu Akivi, where seven Moai stand and are the only ones facing out to the sea (all other Moai face inland so the deceased can look over their old tribe). The seven Moai were constructed for seven travelers from Tahiti that set out on a journey to find Easter Island. Their chief had a vision that there was an Island to the east of them, so he sent the seven travelers to find it.

All this information I've written came from our tour guide. He was born in Easter Island and has formal training in the history of the Island. His information contradict a lot of information I read on the Internet, and not to say that he's wrong or the people on the Internet is wrong, but since nobody really knows what happened, the information may or may not be false. He mentioned that all the information he told us was 40% scientifically proven and 60% stories from generations in the past.

Day 15 - October 14, 2011
We left the next morning and started our journey back to Toronto on October 14th at around 1:00pm. We arrived home on October 15th at around noon. Long waits, long plane rides, but we got to sit beside each other in twos without interruptions.

Our alarm clock during our stay.

At the tip of Rano Kau.

Crater of Rano Kau.

Believed to be a woman Moai.

The fine construction of rocks.

Petroglyph.

Ahu Akivi.

A lava tunnel.

Dinner at Te Moana - veggie spaghetti.

Dinner at Te Moana - seafood mix.

Day 13 - October 12, 2011

Tour day in Easter Island! A full day tour was scheduled for today. We started off the morning with breakfast at our hotel, which was included with the stay. We didn't eat much there as the choices were not too appetizing, and we also didn't trust how old or long the food had been placed out for. We opted for toast, cheese, and some pastries.

The tour started at 9:00am; the tour guide picked us up in a 12 seater tour van and it only took about 15 minutes to go around the town to pick up the other folks. We started off our tour, visiting spots around the Island that had the Moai. It's one thing to see them through pictures on the Internet, but it's another thing to see them in person. They seem fake for some reason, but obviously very real, and astonishing how the people were able to carve these back then.

To give a brief history lecture -- the Rapa Nui people inhabited the Island way back when, around the year 1200. They carved these heads, or Moai as they called them, straight out of the volcano rock (pictures below will show this), ranging from a few meters up to 20 meters, and some weighing in at 80+ tonnes! Every time a chief in their village died, they would move one of these heads to the specific location where the chief was buried, acting like a tombstone. At their peak, there were almost 900 Moai created and transported to their location, and since they were carved out of one specific volcano rock, the Moai were sometimes transported 15kms away. Obviously back then they didn't have transport trucks like we do these days, so it's believed they used rope, tree trunks, and physical strength to pull these massive rocks. Can you believe how long it would take to move these things 15kms?

As the years went by, different tribes formed, specifically the long eared tribe and the short eared tribe. They started a war between each other and as a sign of disrespect, the long eared tribe knocked down each and every one of the Moai, specifically so they would be face down and in a way that the heads would break at the neck. To this day, around 60 Moai have been carefully resurrected and back and its place.

The first set of Moai we saw; these were obviously not restored and kept as they were.

One of the heads of a Moai.

The Moai often had hair made for them out of red volcanic scoria, a type of rock from a volcano located at a certain part of the Island. These were carved separately and rolled to their location.

Site of Ahu Tongariki, where 15 of the largest Moai stand. In 1960, a tsunami swept the Moai further into the Island. It wasn't until 1992 that a Japanese construction company put their efforts into restoring them to where they now stand. They finished restoring them in 1996.

The volcano where the Moai were carved.

The fifth Moai from the right is the tallest Moai that was ever erected. It stands 9 meters tall and ~80 tonnes.

Rano Raraku, the site where the Moai started its construction from the volcanic rock.

These Moai in the surrounding area were ready to be transported to its final destination, but the people never got around to it as the wars broke out.

One of the largest Moai that wasn't finished; almost 21 meters in length.

This is how they started carving the Moai; started out by laying flat on its back, carving out one side, and then doing the other. They would use another type of rock that was harder than the volcanic rock and simply carve and chip away.

Inside the crater of Rano Raraki. You'll see in the distance more Moai, and in the middle above the grass are wild horses. As you can see by the size of the horses and the Moai, this was a big area.

The entrance/exit to the crater. The tour guide cautioned us to come up here at our own risk in case the horses came stampeding through.

A magical rock believed to have special powers. The tour guide put a compass against and around the rock, and it would keep spinning around (the compass, not the tour guide). The guide wasn't convinced the rock had powers, just simply minerals inside the rock that would cause the compass to redirect itself.

One of two beaches on Easter Island.