Had to change our watches coming into Easter island as they are 4 hrs ahead so we landed at 10am local time then picked up our bags and found a guy to take us to the hostel we had found in the lonely Planet. We were taken to -Ana Rapu along with an Aussie couple staying at the same place which turned out to be not so bad. We had a shower to use but once again it was cold.......... can't remember the last time i had a hot one. Anyway set up the tent and had a quick look around one of the rooms that a Aussie couple were staying in - very nice.

We then had a couple of hours lay down to catch up some sleep before heading off into town to find a supermarket and see what was around. Everything was shut and didn't open until 5pam again so we just went for a walk and had a look at a couple of the stone head statues. The weather was wonderful, a lot cooler than French Polynesia and had a lovely sea breeze - which kept the insects away and was perfect for trekking. Went back to the shop at 5 and bought a few bits and pieces to keep us going, mainly rice and pasta as other stuff was still expensive.

Did find a Motorbike hire shop which had a perfect 250 dirt bike that was just the right height for me!! will have to do that then!! Went back to the campsite and just chilled out in the dining room with a few other travelers then went to bed

Didn't wake up till 10.45am which was quite nice so i went and had a shower - now using another one which is in one of the rooms but it has hot water!!!!

We then had some b'fast and i played with the puppies who were residents in the grounds, they seem to have so many may dogs wondering around everywhere. I even saw a couple take down a wild chicken out by the side of the road which took me by surprise. We decided to go out down to the bank and see if we could get a map so i went and put my boots on which haven't been on my feet for a while only to find our backpacks covered in Cockroaches - bloody things get everywhere.

Went down the back and got some money out on Visa then found a really good trekking map and some postcards then went for a quick stroll around the market. I realised it was Joy's birthday soon so had to find a card for her which wasn't easy but did eventually find one tucked away in a cardboard box at the back of a shop - hope it doesn't say 'congratulations on the birth of your daughter' or something as i haven't got a clue what it said on the front!!!!. Went back to the hostel for an egg sarnie and to work out the best way to walk around the island as it takes 3 days to do.

Spent the evening talking to the rest of the guys who were also staying at the same place, Dutch bloke called Ramco who was completely mad and extremely funny. He had teamed up with a huge German guy called Tom who looked like a big bold weight lifter and they talked sport all the time. They there was Sarah from Uk who was 39 and only looked 30 and Colin from Quebec and the Aussie couple, Jude and Glen, (well she was from NZ) It was great to sit with them and talk all about the different countries and just having a laugh. Apart from the Jude and Glen everyone spoke fluent Spanish which i was so impressed about - really need to learn.The young daughter (14) of the owners seemed to go a little mad in the evening as though she was drunk and started running around everywhere sending everyone and everything flying including my drink! She seemed to like Colin as he can speak fluent Spanish and wouldn't leave him alone all evening - he is such a sweety though he just puts up with it.

Woke up in the night to find one of the nice dogs fast asleep in the front of our tent between the fly sheet and the front of our bit - bless. I was so tired i just had a wee in the grass stark naked whilst the dog stood guard over me and kept the other dogs off who had come over to investigate.

We went off to use the internet down in the town but i found the computer really frustrating so didn't stay for long and left Toby to it whilst i went off down the road to get some bread and milk. Toby wanted to go for a walk up to the top of the volcano and i was up for it but was still suffering from a bad back which had once again reared it's ugly head. But i donned my boots and followed him up half way then decided i wasn't having fun and went back to the hostel again to read my book and eat cake which i thought was much more fun!

The rest of the group got back about 5.30pm and said they were all going out to watch the sunset then go out for dinner so i said we might join them for dinner for a change. Toby got back at 6 so the walk took 4hrs and sounded really good so will have to do the track on a motorbike which sounds like much more of a plan. Everyone was leaving the next day so Toby said we could go out for dinner and have a drink. So they all went out early to watch the nonexistent sunset then we went down and met them at the restaurant. Toby had some chicken which tasted wonderful - we haven't eaten meat in ages. I just had some pasta but also had some chips which tasted bloody wonderful, funny how the simple things in life like chips and meat can be such a treat when you have to do without them. After dinner we all went down to another bar and stayed there for a couple of hours all taking the piss out of each other and all our nationalities then went back to the tent, the dog was once again sat outside and got in under the fly sheet again to get her bed set up.

The wind was really strong all night and the tent hadn't been set up very well so i had it flapping in my head all night.

Got up to find the dog sat outside keeping guard again and seemed very happy to see us - i now want to keep her as she is very sweet. The rain had started in the early hours and had got progressively harder, hope the tent going to be ok. We had some b'fast with everyone then said goodbye to them all and wished them well. The rain was now tipping down and the place was turning into a muddy swamp - all the poor dogs wandering around the place looked like drowned rats. We had to put our backpacks in the main building as they were getting wet at the front of the tent - luckily the inside of the tent seemed ok. I put my waterproof trousers on and rain mac and walked into town to get a lighter for the stove and some more bread - the streets had turned into rivers. I hope our little guard dog is ok and has found somewhere dry to hide away. Emma who i had met in Tahiti had arrived early on in the morning so i was pleased to see her, she was so excited about being on the Island and wasn't put off about the rain at all and was planning to go out for a walk even though she had been up all night traveling. Toby and I just sat around in the lounge reading and chatting to another camping couple from the UK who had turned up the previous night. BJ who was also arrived with Emma and sharing a room with her stayed in bed all day so we were starting to get a little worried about him by the evening as he said he didn't feel very well. We also got talking to an old guy called Nany who was lovely and tried to teach us some Spanish which Toby is picking up very quickly - i do not pick anything up very quickly unfortunately..

I wanted to have some time to myself so left Toby at about 10 and headed off to try and climb a huge hill i could see in the distance that had 3 huge wooden crosses on top. This turned out to be a challenge for me as there didn't seem to be any track leading up to the hill so i walked for ages up a dirt road near the bottom then walked over fields and trenches to get to the bottom of this blinkin hill. It turned out to be a really huge climb and was incredibly steep so had to use all limbs to get to the top. It was well worth it though as the view was wonderful and i could see most of the island. I sat up there under the huge wooden crosses for 30mins and read my book enjoying the quiet then started to plan how i was going to get back as I wasn't going to walk back to way i had come because it was the long way back. I could see the town and the hostel we were staying in through my binoculars so basically just tried to keep in a straight line down the hill and back again which wasn't an easy task. There wasn't any roads or tracks that i could find so ended up gong across fenced fields, barbed wire and through gardens containing very angry sounding dogs. I eventually found a road and guessed which direction to take, turned out to be the right one and ended up getting back to the hostel about 2.30pm Toby and Emma and Nany were just heading out as i got back so i said a quick hello and goodbye to them whilst i got myself some lunch and a cold drink.

They didn't get back until 7pm that evening telling me about their adventure then i cooked dinner and we just chatted to Emma and Colin for the rest of the evening.

Had a long day ahead so after a quick b'fast we dumped all the stuff we didn't need in Emma's and BJ's room which was a godsend. We didn't leave until 11 in the end and started our 6and a half hour journey across the most bleak but beautiful landscape which reminded me a little of remote Scotland or Ireland with a bit more oomph. My day pack even though small weighed a ton and wasn't easy to carry because all the weight was being taken by my shoulders, the backpacks are carried around the waist which is what Toby was carrying so he wasn't finding it too bad.

The walk was fantastic and it was good to be doing some exercise again but it was also good to finally come across a ridge and see the beach, our destination for the day. It was quite weird seeing all the black volcanic rock and open ground then a white sanded beach just stuck in the middle of it - didn't seem to look right.

We found our campsite set amongst the trees and quite a distance from the beach only to arrive exactly the same time as the UK couple that had camped at the hostel for one night. After setting up our tent Toby went off to the beach to take some photo's whilst i gathered some wood for the fire so we could have a nice cup of milo before bed. We had left over cold rice and cabbage for dinner - mmmmm then sat around the fire and drank our lovely milo. The other 2 didn't seem to want to socialise with us so kept themselves tucked away in their tent only venturing out when we went to bed......

Had a lovely cup of coffee with real cream (in a tin) and some peaches for b'fast then hung the tent up to dry in a nearby tree and packed everything up. The UK couple still didn't seem to want to talk to us so we just left them to it.....

We then went down the beach so that Toby could go for a swim, i sat on the beach with a local friendly dog and read my book, the sea was fat too cold for me. By lunch time we hit the road again and walked in the sunshine all the way to the Quarry. On the way we stopped off to have a look at the impressive 15 moai statues set up near the water then walked to the Quarry campsite to set up camp once again behind the wardens house. As soon as the tent was up we headed up the steep climb to the top of the Quarry only to find ourselves looking over another volcanic crater, this one had a huge lake inside and was amazing. Surrounding the lake were loads of Moai looking very old and impressive some of them were buried up to their noses whilst others looked brand new.

Toby was running around like a small child taking hundreds of photos and getting all excited - bless. After about an hour of walking around the site we went back to our tent for some dinner of a tuna roll and started to light a fire to boil some water for a coffee. The warden bloke who didn't speak any English came outside and beckoned us into his little house where he then gave us boiled water and gave us some of his dinner of pasta and bread, how kind is that!

It was blowing a gail all night and peeing down with rain, the side of the tent was hitting me all night so i just couldn't sleep well. In the early hours of the morning a dog tried getting in the front of the tent to get away from the wind and rain, Toby let it in but i didn't really wake up or hear it crying because of my earplugs. It couldn't settle and went back outside only to start scratching on the side of the tent and pine which did wake me up. It was time to ge up anyway so we got dressed and donned all our waterproof gear before venturing outside into the gail and rain. Who should i find sitting under some shelter near the house but our faithful pooch who had obviously followed us all the way across the other side of the island and it was her who was trying to get into the tent - she must have been walking all night it that terrible weather. She was so pleased to see me, as Toby hadn't recognised her so hadn't paid her that much attention, i gave her a can of tuna and a big tummy rub before clearing up all the tent stuff and trying to dry it off under a porch way whilst the wind was blowing and the rain was tipping down.

We soon headed off all dolled up in our waterproofs and dog in tow getting very wet and cold. Poor old dog was knackered and fell asleep every time we stopped for a break which seemed to be quite often as i was feeling pretty tired as well. We took the wrong short cut which didn't save us any time but were soon back on the correct road, the weather had cheered up and i started to enjoy the walk. Not long from home (about 4km) we were picked up, with the dog by a nice bloke with a van who took us back into town where the first thing we did was buy a cold coke and some grub as eating bread and boiled eggs wasn't doing the trick that day. When we got back to the hostel we set up camp again and then i produced a huge bag of washing to Toby as it was now his turn to do some domestic stuff as i had done all the hand washing so far.......... unlucky for him, he had about 41 pieces of clothing all covered in mud and not smelling so good either. Emma and i sat outside the bathroom drinking wine and eating some cake whilst Toby took nearly 2hrs to clean everything - we gave him moral support!

A couple of American guys had set up a tent near ours, and colin had also now set up a tent so it was pretty cozy, we all sat around in the lounge in the evening and played cards and drank some vino. Well the 2 American guys - Shane and Silas were drinking vodka so by the end of the evening they were getting pretty drunk. The owners daughter who is the mad 14yr old insisted on putting makeup on us all which was quite funny but ended up being annoying - she just doesn't respond to the word, no!

Toby and I went to bed before the rest of them as we were pretty tired from all the walking but were woken up at 1ish by Silas and Shane having a huge row and Shane saying he was going to break his best mates neck if he didn't show him some respect etc. This went on for about an hour and a half and i didn't hear one word from Silas it was all coming out of Shane's big fat gob - kind of bloke who always said dude and extreme in that really annoying way - sorry to say but he appitamised the bad Americans that give them all a bad name ie always talked about himself and thought he was wonderful .

Wahey it's motorbike day and i was soooo excited about getting back on two wheels again. We rushed down to the hire shop and got ourselves a couple of 250's - Tobys was a proper off roader whilst mine was a GLX which was a little smaller for my short legs. We then took them back to the hostel to pick up some provisions for the day and to pick up Emma who wanted a lift to the quarry so she could walk back again.

Toby stuck her on the back of his bike and went up the track leading out of the hostel grounds only to be chased by one of the hostels dogs (not a very nice one) he seemed to be going mad and trying to bite the both of them so when i had to follow up the same track i was really worried he would do the same, but he just left me alone. When i got to the top of the track, Toby had stopped and Emma was hopping off taking off her boot which had a big hole in it from the dog who had bitten straight through the leather and gone into her foot. The wound starting opening up straight away and definitely needed stitches so we took her back down and told the owners that they needed to take her to hospital ASAP and to tether the bloody dog. There are so many dogs everywhere just roaming around but the hostel seemed to have quite a few including the puppies. They were all ok but you couldn't trust them. The only one who was soft as putty was our little lady dog that followed us everywhere and slept outside our tent every night.

Anyway Colin when with Emma to the hospital as he could speak fluent Spanish so would be of more help than us, we waved goodbye and got back on our bikes, headed down to the shop for some camera film then onto the Quarry.

The bike ride was fantastic and it felt so good to be screaming around all the dirt tracks, i did manage to do an impressive skid which i managed to jump off as the bike fell over - lucky for me as it was in a huge mud puddle so landing on my feet was very helpful. Toby said to try his big bike for a while which i found much more fun than mine and had better grip.

When we got to the quarry Toby sat under one of the heads whilst i ran around the quarry taking loads of pictures and had so much energy - must be all the walking? that i was running around leaping over rocks and boulders like a spring chicken, i'm sure that won't last.......

We got back on our bikes again and headed off to the beach so i could take some more photos and had some lunch - tuna roll.

We skidded back to the main road where Toby went off on his own up another dirt/ mud track whilst i went back to the hostel to check up on Emma - stopping off for a cake on the way back to cheer her up. Found her laying down on the couch and told me all the gory details of how they sewed it up and thought it was a tin can cut until Colin explained everything - thank goodness he was with her, so they gave her all the tetanus shots etc that she needed. It seemed the dad owner had also shot the dog who had bit her and a lot of the other dogs had also disappeared including the puppies, so we think he shot them all.................. seems he didn't want so many dogs around the place. It was harsh to shoot the puppies but there we go, i did worry about our little girl dog so rushed around to our tent, and found her still sitting outside and very pleased to see me - thank god.

I let Colin go out on my bike for a blast whilst i talked to Emma and had some coffee and cake - she was a bit pissed off cause she wanted to do some walking and was worried about the plane journey and splitting the stitches etc, so we said we would book her in the same hostel as us in Santiago as were all going the same way at the same time and we could organise a taxi etc, so i think that was a little bit of a relief for her but not much, pain in the arse for poor Emma.

Toby got back not long after me and then Colin got back so Toby said we should go up to the volcano that he had walked up a few days ago warning me the track would be very muddy and slippery, bit of an understatement but a managed very well and didn't come off my bike again unlike Toby who did a very impressive 360degree skid/turn on his bike landing him flat on his arse, i nearly did the same but obviously my skill had no boundaries..... what a big head.

The view from the top was breathtaking and i had no idea it would be so beautiful. The volcano was perfectly round with a huge deep crater in the middle filled up with water all surrounded by the sea - amazing.

We then went back and popped into the craft shop to pick up some souvenirs then went back and had some dinner which I cooked for Emma as well seeing as she was now hopping around on one foot. Just sat around and drank wine and played cards again - American guys were still in their tent and not showing their faces.

After b'fast Toby went up to use the internet and phone him mum as it was her b'day. I organised us a room to stay in for the night so we could clean and dry out our tent ready to leave the next day. I dumped all our stuff from the tent into our room and then had a lovely hot shower which was also in our room. Poor old Emma was still hopping around on one foot but still eager to see the Quarry so her, Colin and BJ got a taxi and all left in the morning. Had a very relaxed day sorting out all our bits and pieces and relaxing on a comfortable bed whilst doing our diaries. Emma had to go back down the hospital in the afternoon for a check up on her foot and was supposed to be taken down by the owners as they had a car.She had to get a taxi in the end because they just didn't bother......

We all sat down and had dinner together then just sat up and played some cards, we later watched an old programme done in the 1970's by Jaque Creausto about Easter Island - all very fascinating.

Went back to our room to find our dog fast asleep on the floor with her head on Toby's backpack.

Got up really early to get all our stuff packed away but ended up having it all done within half an hour, so found ourselves wandering around until they put out our b'fast. Had nice b'fast with everyone then got told to get in the van so they could take us to the airport. We said goodbye to Colin and i went to find our doggy but she had left our room when we got up earlier and i hadn't seen her since so i couldn't give her a last hug goodbye.....

Big Que to the check-in desk and it was such dosey women who sorted out our seats - forgot to give us back our tickets, do our air miles, stuck us in the same seats then forgot to take our baggage!! silly women.

We then had to que up to get across to the plane and we thought it was quite good of them when a woman came and got Emma and said she should follow her and have first dabbs to the place because she had an injury. She then just dragged her across the lawn in all the mud (Emma had no shoe on) and left her at the front of the que only to be over taken when the line started walking towards the plane, Emma was left hobbling over the tarmac and not one person stopped to help her. We then boarded the plane ourselves in the wind and rain and said goodbye to Easter Island.