Fierce Edges
Fierce Edges © Peter Riley
As we travel along the fierce edges of our lives,
on one side lay darkness,
on the other side light.
Behind us lay ghost’s of the past.
Ahead lay the unknown.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment © Peter Riley
Tongariki Sunrise
Tongariki © Peter Riley
The Tongariki platform hosts the largest number of Moai in one place. If my memory serves me, there are approximately fifteen Moai there. They were devastated a few years ago when a Tsunami toppled them. I think the Japanese government stepped in to help erect them again.
These Moai are located on the east coast of the island and as I looked at my map, I just knew I had to get a sunrise shot. So I got up at 5 am had a cup of coffee and rode away into the pitch blackness of the early morning. I passed people pouring onto the street from a Disco near the airport and thought how the passing of time changes our lives. Just a ‘few’ years ago, I may have been partying rather than photographing.
It takes about 30 minutes to get there. The road is filled with pot holes and there is also the little problem of black horses standing in the middle of a black road at 05:45 with no other light whatsoever. At one point I pulled over, turned off the scooter lights and engine, listened to the ocean waves crashing on the shore and witnessed the most beautiful array of stars, twinkling away in the distance.
I didn’t want to miss the first dawn light at Tongariki so I started up on was on my way again. I arrived in time to catch the first glimpses of cold light that gradually warmed up to give me the photo I captured above.
The Unpleasant History of Rapanui
Tongariki Moai © Peter Riley
If you’d like to learn more about the history of Rapanui, please click the link to visit The Bajan Reporter.
If you enjoyed reading The Bajan Reporter you may find the refreshing historical revisionism of Rapanui by Martin Gray at his website Sacredsites
Silver Road – Rapanui.
Rapa Nui Horses © Peter Riley
The rain stopped,the road glistened, the earth exhaled and the aroma from the Eucalyptus grove made me feel giddy.
Vida Luminosa 