ERC Sata Rallye Acores

I arrived in Ponta Delgada as the sun was setting, the island from above looked spectacular, however the 30+ hours of travel was taking its toll, I had probably 3-4hrs sleep and was feeling it, all I wanted was a shower, some food and a nice warm bed, unfortunately the traveling, timezone changes, lack of sleep and being confined in a public space with thousands of other humans would take its toll, by the end of the week I would get sick, to the point where it would effect the next part and the most exciting part of the trip.

On arrival I picked up my car, a Nissan Note, I compare it to a Nissan Tida we have here, one thing I love about car rentals outside Australia is that I can hire a manual, much more fun to drive.

My accommodation was at the official media hotel which was awesome, 17th floor views looking out towards the North Atlantic Ocean, Sao Miguel is a few hours from the mainland of Portugal and I have to say one of the most picturesque places I have ever been to, its was like chlorophyl overload, the scenery is just spectacular, I would love to come back one day to enjoy the island.

I was on the island for work though and the ERC Round Sata Rallye Acores, with the island being only 85km wide the event was very compact and very easy to get from stage to stage, however the event is also very popular with spectators so even though distances were small it did take time to move around, nevertheless with the help of Andre from @World Agency he showed me some great shooting locations which resulted in a number of the images below, I also met some great friends of Andre who introduced me to some of the local cuisines and some hidden gems of the island.

The event was over fairly quickly, that wasnt helped by the fact by the thursday shakedown I had started to develop a cough, I think the changes in climate, lack of sleep, traveling and moving between timezones in a short space of time took its toll, come Saturday I was waking up soaked from sweat and by the end of the day I felt like death warmed up, absolutely terrible but I had to push on as I had an early flight out to get to Rome for the next leg of this adventure.

Below are just some of my images during recce showcasing this beautiful island as well as images from the event.

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