A new day of exploration in front of us, since it was coldish yesterday I felt like putting on long pants today…turned out: hot like hell hiking up the volcano! First a few km to get around the airport, then we start a path up the Rano Kau crater and the Orongo national park. The path to the top is kind of steep, but the view of the island from the top of the volcano is pretty nice! The crater is now full of different floating plants and will remain like that until the ocean digs through its edge, turning it into a lagoon. The national park is a conservation of old stone houses the native population used during the final period before colonization, and look quite advanced for that time!

Getting back down along the dirt road we meet a Japanese guy biking up: he was exhausted, soaked and smiling like a complete nut case, but he still asked if we could take a picture of him with his mobile! Way to go Japan!

Back in town we make friends with a lovely young dog who got injured in a paw probably when hit by a car or something. He is not very good at walking and since the competition for food is fierce between dogs we decide to help him out a bit by giving him some dog food. Since we don’t want him to strain his foot and follow us we sprinkle some pieces of bread in one direction and then hurry quickly in the opposite one. He is a young one and I really hope he can improve in the following month even if he has no owner to take care of him.

Too keep the level of pain high we decide that the next day it will be “mountain bike day”. So we get up late, as usual, and get down to the bike rental and start biking towards Puna Pau, half way there we get lost of course. We realize that when after following Andreas’ instructions of “up this hill, we turn right and we are there in no time” which actually made us end up in a prive property of some sort of hippy in the middle of nowhere. No worries, the sun is shining, my ass hurts and the road is rocky and hilly, but we’ll make it to Ahu Akivi, which is the one and only moai site which is not on the coast, and after that to Ahu Te Peu, just before entering town. On the rocky beach an old islander is fishing his dinner: a long white beard, a line and a hook, that is probably all that was needed.

The last day on the island is for wandering around, breathing in the lovely smell of the sea, the grilled fish and the empanadas. We get to see the last beautiful waves coming in and we are ready to leave this amazing island to its people.