Easter Island continued

Our visit to Easter Island was such  a busy day with so much to see and lots to share we required a second post to catch some of the other activities of the day,
Our ship riding at anchor and patiently waiting for us to return.
This screen shot from our stateroom tv, shows clearly the extremely remote 
Easter Island.
3700km due west of the west coast of South America.
2000km south and east from Pitcairn Island.
7000km south west to New Zealand.
Our transfer craft - ship to shore, and return - orange and white vessel, mid background.
These craft are modified lifeboats and can hold 150 people in an emergency,
 80 to 100 folks when transferring ashore. 
A hard left around the big wave and then quickly enter the channel. 
Just like a fairground ride, only better.
Local children playing around in the harbour area.
Their choice today was the coastguard vessel - only on Easter Island.
Traditional outrigger canoes - racing is a popular pastime here.
Passenger transfer craft - our transport from the island to the ship.


Thanks for visiting, we had so much fun and this stop over on Easter Island will take some beating. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Glacier Alley, Patagonia, Chile

Image
We have enjoyed several busy days recently and although a couple of those days were spent on board while enjoying scenic cruising, they were no less active than our shore days, and I did neglect the blog while being otherwise distracted. It is quite amazing, while spending a whole day on-board, just how far we actually walk, easily logging 4 or 5 km and numerous sets of stairs, while doing our best to counter the calorie intake from the wonderful food we are consuming. After leaving Punta Arenas, we were on our way towards our next port of call, Ushuaia, Argentina, partly by sailing in a westerly direction along the Straits of Magellan and then, turning towards the south east, into a channel commonly referred to as Glacier Alley.   Glacier Alley is an amazing string of tidewater glaciers, which are part of the Darwin Ice Field, arrayed along the north shore of the Beagle Channel and surrounded by snow capped peaks and tidal fiords. Photographs, and words, can never depict the e...
Read more

Penguins - Gypsy Cove - East Falkland

Image
While visiting Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, we took the opportunity to take a shuttle bus to see a Magellanic Penguin colony at Gypsy Cove, in Yorke Bay. The penguin colony was only a 15 minute ride around the bay and over the hill, to the open ocean beaches. The landscape in this area consists of low hills, limestone outcrops, short Tussac grasses, ferns, and lichens, and what appeared to be white heather. Although we experienced a comfortably warm day with gentle breezes, this coastline is extremely windswept and is often battered by raging gales. We were able to wander along the several kilometres of trail, and although we could only approach the penguins to within about 30 meters, many were seen. There were a couple of groups of these very cute penguins huddled together on the beach, and we spied several immature birds which were hanging around their burrows, waiting for mum, or dad, to bring them a fish supper. The penguins are ashore for around three weeks in Februa...
Read more

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Image
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the home of the Cariocas, as Rio’s residents are known. Locals proudly say that while God made the world in six days, on the seventh day he made Rio de Janeiro - the sensual home of samba, soccer and Carnival. And, now it is also home to the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf mountain and the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, the area around what is now Rio de Janeiro was occupied by the indigenous people’s of the Tupi, Puri, Botocudo and Maxakali tribes. The climate is tropical with temperatures in the high 20s C and so very humid. The city of Rio was founded by the Portuguese on March 1st, 1565. Today there is an estimated population of  6.5 million and, now, the city is one of so many contrasts. There are hills, there are tunnels, there are trains, buses and cars, there are bicycles and motorcycles, there are horrendous traffic jams, there are pedestrians everywhere, and there is noise, c...
Read more