priscimon blog

Since our first days in Tahiti, I had been obsessed with getting a perfect picture of the abandoned hotel at Tahara’a. But in the blink of an eye, time had passed, and our two-month stay was coming to an end. And a combination of temperamental weather and other holiday occupations limited the time I could allocate to photography.

Eventually I got two pleasing photos of the hotel.

One is taken from the hills of Arue in the afternoon light, and the other, from Lafayette Beach on an early morning.

The hotel has had many names over the years, but I like “Hotel Tahara’a” the most.

In Tahiti you feel like you can capture a great photo by just pointing your camera in any direction and pressing the shutter button. But for these ones, I had to climb up the steep hillside of Arue.

Yesterday morning driving from Arue along the northern coast and down the eastern coast to Taravao took us exactly 50 minutes. We were headed for Faratea — situated just before the town of Taravao if coming down the east coast — where local motor clubs had organised a drag racing day event.

With forty participating drivers and many cars on display, the event promised to be interesting, but we could watch only a few runs before we had to return to Arue.

Like earlier, we drove along the eastern coast and, even at a leisurely pace, were still able to make good time for our next engagement in Papeete.