Anakena beach belonged to the royal family in ancient times, and it is easy to see why. With its crystalline water, white sand, coconut palms and royal moai, it truly is one of a kind.

At ten metres tall, here lies one of the tallest moai ever to be erected, now but a vestige of its former glory. Nearby sits the famous magnetic circular stone which legend says came to Easter Island from the ancient homeland of Hiva with the first king, Hotu Matuʻa.

One Makehe is an unrestored conglomerate of ahu platforms sitting as they have been for over two hundred years since the islanders turned on the traditions of their ancestors and began toppling the hundreds of moai found throughout the island.

Spend a bulk of the afternoon absorbing the grandeur of the moai that sit half emerged from the soil in Rano Raraku, the volcano crater that acted as a stone quarry and birthplace for these immense figures. Here, hundreds of handsome heads and torsos sit in various stages of carving, still waiting to be transported to their various ahu located all over the island.

Stand in awe at the restored site of Ahu Tongariki, where fifteen stone giants stand watch over the land as silent sentinels, dwarfing all who come into their presence. Restored between 1992 and 1996, this is the most inspiring of the various platforms. Here, fifteen of the largest moai set their stone faces like flint, looking eternally toward the setting of the sun, as well and the comparatively insignificant tourists who come to pay them homage.