We landed on time at Easter Island and received a pretty perfumed lei to welcome us to the island.

At Hotel O’Tai our room was ready so we were able to shower before venturing out to explore the only town on the island - Hanga Roa.

It is quite small and after a short walk  we found a cafe for lunch

and to watch the world go by.

It is Festival time here and they have a huge influx of visitors as well as families coming home from Chile to dance and to compete in some of the competitions.

There was also a cruise ship in the harbour and this brought 500 extra people for the day.

After an LLD  (little lie down)  we were ready to find a restaurant for dinner and headed for the harbour where the locals were surfing and were having a lot of fun with an outrigger canoe.

Dinner was quite good - fresh local fish - Tuna and Maha Maha.

The next morning our itinerary said we would be picked up at 11am and we were having a leisurely morning when there was a knock at the door at 9 o’clock and the Explora people had come to collect us!  We were ready in 15mins. The reception told us that they had a fax to give us a 9am time  “but we don’t deliver messages”.  Very annoying as we had kept people waiting and hadn’t eaten breakfast.

What can I say about Explora?  It doesn’t look particularly impressive when the van pulls up but once you start walking down the path it becomes very interesting.

Our room was luxurious particularly after O’Tai.  King size bed with beautiful linen.  The bathroom has a spa bath and the best shower we have ever had.  Lots of pressure and a great shower head.

The view from the large windows looks out over the “paddocks” to the blue, blue sea a kilometre away.

I love this hotel and could live here happily.