hellocloud photography by Ken Lönnström » travelling

Time to begin

Ken — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:48:03 +0000

Yesterday we had worked for 14 days in a row, needless to say that we have been extremely tired most of the time, especially since we also work almost ten hours a day. Fruit picking is a tough and demanding job but we sure enjoy it. Where else do you have your office outdoors in the sunshine and rain?

After work we went straight to the hostel to shower and then we drove a few minutes to Warren District Agricultural Show here in Manjimup. It is quite a big festival down here in the South West. They had a horse riding competition, a cute carnival, live music, motocross shows and one big exhibit hall.

This is a yearly event and it keeps quite a few people occupied, because they work hard in order to prepare something good and out of the ordinary for the exhibit hall. What you can show is your locally grown fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers. You can also show your skills at cooking, painting, sewing, photographing. All of the above are also judged which encourage people to get better and better at what they are doing.

Our friend Shirley at the local video store told me about this show a couple of weeks ago and encouraged me to enter a selection of my photographs. The night before the photos had to be delivered, me and my lovely Jenny were sitting up late working on them. I had gotten them printed the day before but we had to fix some sort of frame around all of them, which ended up being very amusing. I’ll upload pictures of me on Facebook, sitting on the cement floor with a piece of wood and a sharp knife, trying to get the correct size for the frames.

When we came to the exhibit hall I was a bit nervous but we stayed occupied looking at all these beautiful pictures. Imagine the surprised look on my face when I found out that two of my photographs had received second prize in Landscape / Seascape and Monochrome – my two favourite classes!

I’m feeling so proud. Not only because of the prizes but also because I saw people point on my photos to both discuss and compliment them.

Later on when I collected them, the lady working told me about the Monochrome class. There were only two judges and they loved one picture each. They came absolutely nowhere in their discussions so in the end they decided to just flip a coin. Just thought I would let you know about what’s been going on. Now however, it is definitely time to sleep.

Have fun and stay happy!

The great escape

Ken — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:29:47 +0000

Imagine that you were on Australia’s longest straight road. 146.6 km of road across a desert with barely anything except for a few dead kangaroos and a couple of road trains. What would you do? Have a look at the far end of the horizon…

Magnificent even after death

Ken — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:35:38 +0000

In this moment I am writing this blog post from inside our car in a small town called Walpole. We’ve had an amazing day, done lots of driving on scenic routes, gazed in amazement at this enormous trees along the road, visited a summer residence village and walked over 10 km in the bush and next to the ocean.

During that trip we encountered three kangaroos – twice! They stood completely still barely five-six meters from us and did not even blink when I photographed them. Otherwise it has been a day filled with deep discussions about life, educations and other important matters.

Good night and sleep tight!

Dressed to impress

Ken — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:35:28 +0000

In roughly six hours we are leaving Manjimup for a few days which feels quite nice. We have probably one more week of vacation before the fruit picking starts. Herman the German is already packed with a few clothes, books, cameras, food consisting of baked beans and sandwiches. Everything a couple need! Oh yes, and one blanket and our sleeping bags in case it gets cold in the car.

We’re going south/south east from where we are now. Maybe visit some National Parks, climb some more trees and enjoy the beach at Denmark. There is actually a town called Denmark in Australia, it is hilarious.

Hopefully I’ll have enough battery to do blog updates. Have fun and stay happy until tomorrow or longer, if you want.

When I looked upon the world

Ken — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:28:17 +0000

Yesterday, the last day of the weekend, I went on a road trip together with my Jenny and two of our friends. Cramped together in our little V-dub Herman the German were also Matt, the awesome Australian and Masako, our cute Japanese friend.

We have all worked together a few months ago so it felt a little bit like a reunion to go somewhere in our orange suntanned Beetle. Straight after lunch we jumped in the car, put on some Swedish country music and just enjoyed a relaxed and fun day.

First we went to see this old bridge called “One Tree Bridge.” You guessed it, it was made out of a huge tree, in fact it was a Karri tree, which can grow and become quite huge. Other places we visited was “The Four Aces”, “King Jarrah Heritage Trail”, “Fonty’s Pool” and at sunset we went to “The Diamond Tree” just outside of Manjimup.

It is a 51 meter high Karri tree which is still used as a fire lookout. There’s a “ladder” that enables anyone to climb up to the top and watch in awe, the forest surrounding the area. This is also where I took the above picture and a few others. It is undoubtedly the most intense sunset I have ever seen. I took pictures for probably 25 minutes because everything changed the whole time.

The others climbed down 20 minutes before me because they did not want to climb when it was dark, but hey I did not mind. Not the slightest. Being alone 51 meters up in a tree gazing around as the world burns and becomes ashes is an incredible experience/memory. Serenity.

Oh, how I’m gonna miss Australia.

Not just another beautiful day

Ken — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:33:26 +0000

Early in the morning a few days ago I was working in the apple orchard as usual. Many mornings are so fantastic. Beautiful. Getting up at four and an hour later start working, getting a head start on everything and come home earlier than everyone else.

This morning I kept climbing up and down the ladder but I could not really concentrate on work because of the surroundings, the sun rise, the peaceful moments. At the top of my ladder, I just stopped, took a deep breath and looked out over the orchard, watching the mist rise from the ground. Sometimes I even feel so light, as if I could glide up with the mist to greet the clouds. I truly love mornings and my work.

Have a safe journey

Ken — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:18:05 +0000

In seven hours time my friend Veronica is leaving from Stockholm on a well deserved vacation to Thailand. She will be gone for two weeks with one of her amazing friends. All of which made me think of this picture.

It is taken in Brisbane in September 2008, only a few weeks before my beloved came to Australia for the first time. I remember that it was one of those rare nights that seems to be filled with some sort of magic. With me, were my German mate mARTin and my friendly Irish room mate James. Both of whom I miss a lot. Quite a lot to be frank. We were just strolling around the park with our cameras, trying to catch some glimpses of the night life.

Isn’t it funny how some people you meet, only for a fraction of ones life, can make such a huge impact on everything? Honestly, what would life be without friends?

Following footprints

Ken — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:21:23 +0000

Time passes so quickly, in most cases too quickly. That’s what everyone says. Not only that, we hear it spoken aloud every day, we think about it every day and we remember it every single day. The years passes by and there’s no stopping to it. You could call it a never-ending battle, if you think of it as a battle.

What I find interesting though is tracing back ones past. Trying to remember what I’ve gone through since the age of six or think of an awesome barbecue we had a few weeks ago. Following ones own footprints is sometimes what can lead us on the right path into the future.

The above picture was taken a few days before New Years during a road trip up north past Perth, in a town called Cervantes. If I remember correctly. That road trip together with my love Jenny, our Australian friend Daisy and her two British friends Jess and Lindsey, were overwhelmingly hot. We spent the whole day sweating in the car but it was well worth it because we got to see the famous Pinnacles and we had lots of fun.

Now it is actually time for bed because we start work at five in the morning. Pictures from work will be coming up on the blog in a universe not too far away in a future we, as of now, can’t foresee. Good night and sleep tight!

Something special, something unique

Ken — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:06:53 +0000

Lost in the mist

Ken — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:36:37 +0000

We did survive our 4000 km long trip from Melbourne VIC to Manjimup WA, which has been truly a remarkable trip. There is too much to say concerning this, especially now that we only have very limited Internet time. All we’ve had enough for is to just check our e-mails but not write anything. Sorry ’bout that!

This is just one of all the pictures I’ve taken through our six-days-journey. When we left the desert, the Nullarbor Plain, I did have a few tears in my eyes because I did not want it to end. That journey. Did not want to leave the Nullarbor, this spectacular scenery nor the great people living in the middle of nowhere.

One town we visited for fuel is called Madura. In Madura there are only six inhabitants. Then you probably understand how far from everything and everyone it is.

Today I began one of my new jobs. This one only last until tomorrow. On Wednesday I start my new career as a pruner which feels quite amazing. Really looking forward to it.

Please take care of you and don’t forget to drop by, promise I’ll update although I may not be available to write everytime.

Love makes the world go round.