Our next stop was the site named Ahu Akivi where 7 Moai statues stand. A difference of this site to others is that the Moai are actually slightly further inland and don't exactly face away from the ocean.
Next stop on the island was the quarry where the red hats for the statues were made.
Our last stop of the morning was another Moai site. Sadly it has been toppled since and lies on the ground broken. The site remains undisturbed as any attempt to alter the remains would disqualify any artifacts found as "not authentic" (but my question is then how do they find any additional artifacts...and are the other sites not authentic??)
After a quick lunch we decided to jump in our trusty rental car and headed to the only beach on the island, which also happens to contains two platforms with more Moai. The water was refreshing in the hot sun and we relaxed for a good hour or so as Archana & Ilana soaked up some rays.
On our way back to revisit the quarry (that we couldn't entirely see yesterday because of the heavy rain and wind) we stopped at the site of the largest Moai moved from the quarry. Unfortunately this statue also remains face down at the site and broken.
We finally made it back to the quarry and it is nearly unanimous that it is one of our favorite sites. Inside the crater a lake now stands surrounded by lush greenery with unfinished Moai poking out if the hills.
Before heading home we revisited the outside of the quarry (which we quickly saw yesterday in the rain and wind) and also the site with 15 statues (Tongariki).
We covered a lot of ground today.
FJ
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