Urban Exploration, Cook Islands Style

This is the interior of the upper floor of the disused Para O Tane Palace. It was officially the seat of power of Makea Nui Teremoana Ariki, the last ruling Queen of Rarotonga. Sadly, she died in 1994, and confusion over her successor has not been resolved.

Here's a postcard from 1908 showing the building's exterior. The treaty that made the Cook Islands a British protectorate was signed here in 1888 by then-Queen Makea Takau Ariki. She's second from the left in this picture.