500px

I just joined 500px. A photo site a bit like Flickr, but different. To me, it seems like the photos on display there hold a higher class than on Flickr. I'll try it out for a while to make some friends and followers and see how it goes.

A good thing is that my username is always available :)

http://500px.com/mcsnowhammer

Il Sorriso dei Nonni

I'm on a one week trip to Italy with my parents. A really nice place we stayed at in Val di Rabbi, is Il Sorriso dei Nonni. A B&B located in the small village Pracorno. Very nice rooms, a well equipped guest kitchen, free coffee, and a delicious breakfast, are just a few of the good things we enjoyed.

There are plenty of beautiful places to go to, but the surroundings of the B&B itself are very beautiful. Perfect setup for a photo crazy maniac like me. Below are some pictures taken at max 100 m from the house.

Here's the B&B at daytime:

And at nighttime: (almost 30 min exp)

The river Rabbies runs just a few meters from the house: (a long exp IR shot)

Here's the view down the valley:

Looking up the valley, towards the snowy peaks:

The super nice (and strong) staff of the B&B:

While we stayed there, we went to see a very beautiful waterfall, Cascate di Saent, and a small lake surrounded by mountains and forests, Lago Caprioli. Photos from those places in coming posts :)

Now we are close to Fumane, a village close to Verona. It's been raining hard today, but at least we went into Verona and had a look at the city. Including Julias balcony.

Last night an earthquake woke me up! The doors were rattling, and the bed was shaking. Luckily nothing more happened to us. Others were not so lucky in other parts of Italy.

Last night in the southern hemisphere!!

What!? Four months and ten days are gone... But so not forgotten. Tomorrow morning I will start my trip home to Sweden, which will take about 30 hrs, and four flights.

The main reason for me traveling, taking photos, has given me many things:
- utter and complete frustration
- amazing joy
- heaps and heaps of work
- insight in how much robustness and build quality means. And the lack of it...
- super fun
- boredom of sorting, organizing, and backing up
- surprises
- lack of sleep and food
- a backlog of about the size of infinity of photos to take of
- dozens of new exciting acquaintances

In other words: I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

To be honest, I'm glad to stop traveling now. I need to recharge. On many levels. The obvious one is the bank account. But also the "travel" and "want-to-see-new-things" energy levels.
It's such a big difference from my early weeks and my recent weeks, in how much I want to do stuff. An amazing view, after an exciting adventure, after a beautiful walk, after another amazing view... You get the point. There's a limit in how much you can take in. And other unexpected events has made me even more home-sick. In a very good way :)

Is this the last blog entry? Naw, I'll keep blogging. Just need to change the blog description :)

Newcastle to Brisbane, via Byron Bay

I've done a lot since Sydney. I think the highlight of Australia for me, will be Surfest in Newcastle. Many world class surfers showed off their skills in and out of competition. I spent many hours on the beach taking photos. It's been quite a task sorting them out afterwards.

I spent some days in Byron bay. Relaxing from taking photos. Not a single one taken in four days! Some kind of record for me... Instead I surfed myself a few times. Nice, but when I got a smaller board and headed out in the waves, it became veeery hard. Either you catch a too big wave and get slammed, or you just keep paddling for 30 mins without catching a single one. All the more respect for the good surfers!

Now I'm in Brisbane. Mostly doing walks in the city. Took a long one last night on the other side of the river, to get the usual night reflection shots :) Today I'll chill and do some more surf pics processing.

Another Day in Sydney

Yesterday was very much like my previous day in Sydney. Started off at Pamarama Beach, then headed into the city. The difference was that it was a bit cloudy until the evening, when it cleared again.

Luke Redmond shredded the waves this day too at Tamarama. He's doing some really nice spins. Then, after a nap, instead of going to The Rocks, I went to Darling Harbour in the evening. Perfect place  for long exp neon city lights reflection photos :)

I ended my day by heading back to Bondi Beach by train and bus at around 10:30. Nice day again!

A Day in Sydney

I've been in Australia for a little more than a week now. First Melbourne 4 nights, and then a 3-day tour of Great Ocean Road and Grampians National Park. Quite a different feeling compared to NZ. Maybe because I've mostly been in big cities?

Now I'm staying at Bondi Beach in Sydney. The hostel is right next to the surf beaches, and the waves have been nice the last couple of days. Sunshine and 28 degrees seems to be what the weather is here always. I've spent a little more time at the beaches than planned...

The day started with a walk to Tamarama beach where this guy, Luke, did som cool surfing. Tonight I made a trip into the city to see the Opera House and Melbourne Bridge. Very nice sights!

Here's three of todays pictures:

New Plymouth

Now I've spent five days in new Plymouth. I've seen a lot of great wave and kite surfers. The weather has been varied. Today it mostly rained. I was hoping for better weather so I rented a bike and went for a ride towards Back Beach. After 30 mins the rain started, and didn't stop... Got a few photos, but after that I simply did some rain hiking along the beach and rocks.

Yesterday was nice when I joined a surfer and went to a few of the other beaches in this area.

Tomorrow I'll head for Auckland in the afternoon. Hopefully I'll do some surfing myself before that...

Long Exposure Rocks

I'm in Wellington watching the rain pour down... Good thing there are plenty of indoor activities here. I spent many hours in Te Papa today. Watching and learning about volcanos, earthquakes, history, and art. An incredible place that requires many days to explore in its full. One thing I'll sure remember is the earthquake simulation! Scary to feel the ground move and shake...

Tomorrow my plan is to visit the botanical gardens, Carter Observatory, and a zoo maybe. On Friday I'm leaving for New Plymouth to enjoy surfing and walking on Mt Egmont.

I've processed some more shots from the west coast close to Greymouth. One of my favorite spots so far.

Going North

Now I've spent a few relaxing days in Dunedin. Most of my "active" time was at St Clairs beach. Taking photos and doing some surfing. That was the second time I did surfing in Dunedin. It was so much more fun than the first time, since now I could stand up for much longer :) I hope I'll do some more along the Surf Highway 45 up north.

Now I'm in Christchurch for about 10 hours. I'm leaving early on the Coastal Pacific train tomorrow. It will take me to Picton, where I'll stay two nights before taking the ferry up to Wellington.

Catlins tour over

Now I'm in Dunedin after 5 days in the Catlins. Amazing 5 days with lots of walks where I've seen wildlife, forests, rocks, beaches, and waves. I've stayed at backpackers close to beaches, and once on a Hilltop :)

I wish I did spend more time in Curio Bay. I stayed at the Lazy Dolphin there, 50 m from the beach and 500 m from the penguins. Sea Lions and Dolphins are also regular visitors.

In Papatowai I stayed at the Hilltop Accommodation. For a water/rocks fanatic like me, it was an odd choice. But I loved the view. And the extra 5 km each beach walk would demand of me... The sheep in the hill fields that I passed amused me quite a bit too. They were scared shitless for any car or person. They ran 100 m away whenever I passed. Hundreds of them! Good exercise.

Kaka Point meant even more beach walking, but mostly in rain under cloudy skies. Nonetheless enjoyable. That was the biggest town I stayed in. Almost 300 residents I heard. Had a few meals and beers in their pub :) Paddy the bartender is alone worth the stay in Kaka Point.

The next few days will be spent relaxing and sorting pictures in Dunedin. Maybe some surfing also :)

The Catlins

Yesterday started off with an early grey morning at Stewart Island, without coffee, but with stress and heavy rain… The day soon got better after the ferry and ride to Invercargill where I got on the Catlins Coaster. The rain continued but I got to see a couple of romantic sea lions, and then later on in Curio Bay (where I've stayed one night now) I saw the penguins feed their young ones. Sadly, I also saw a sheep that fell into the waves and sea weed and couldn't get up. It was still alive when I left at 9 pm, but I doubt it made it.

This morning I took a walk on the beach and saw a seagull that really got a big breakfast... :)

Waitangi Rugby at Stewart Island

Yesterday I arrived at Stewart Island in deep fog. As the day passed it cleared up. At 2 they had their annual rugby game here. Of course I put the zoom lens on the camera ran there :) It was the first rugby game I watched ever. Crazy! I don't understand how they walk away from all those hits. If just one of those tackles would be performed in a Swedish football game, it would make the national news headlines...

I also took a short guided walk along the coastline in amazing light in the evening. Just me and the guide. That's luxury, and I learnt a lot about the local plants and their history. It was a good day :)