Jay Gould
11-03-2009, 10:02 PM
Hello from one of the Disneylands of the Pacific - the home of one of the wonders of the World - the Moai.
After a lovely lazy blobbing week in Tahiti under blue skies and harsh sun (yummy!) we arrived on Rapa Nui to be greated by wet, overcast, stormy weather - from yummy to yuk! That was yesterday; today overcast, too windy for a tripod, and drizzles - not bad enough to be forced inside.
This image the first of a few to share wih you is of the area called Tongariki. These Moai are 30+' tall (next time I will show you one that is 66' tall) and weigh upwards of 15 - 20 tons; one weighs 86 tons. They were originally erected on this site prior to the 1700s - no one really knows when or how they were moved from the quarry (another image on its way to you), and durng the 1700s they were all knocked down as a reult of tribal wars.
Most recently they were errected using masive cranes through a Japanese/Chilean effort.
Although normally I would not be happy with an unknown tourist invading the scene, I left him in for perspective.
Enjoy - we are!
After a lovely lazy blobbing week in Tahiti under blue skies and harsh sun (yummy!) we arrived on Rapa Nui to be greated by wet, overcast, stormy weather - from yummy to yuk! That was yesterday; today overcast, too windy for a tripod, and drizzles - not bad enough to be forced inside.
This image the first of a few to share wih you is of the area called Tongariki. These Moai are 30+' tall (next time I will show you one that is 66' tall) and weigh upwards of 15 - 20 tons; one weighs 86 tons. They were originally erected on this site prior to the 1700s - no one really knows when or how they were moved from the quarry (another image on its way to you), and durng the 1700s they were all knocked down as a reult of tribal wars.
Most recently they were errected using masive cranes through a Japanese/Chilean effort.
Although normally I would not be happy with an unknown tourist invading the scene, I left him in for perspective.
Enjoy - we are!