Island of Infinity

The Three Musketeers tend to have almost too much fun competing constantly. First, discussing who spotted this timeless micro island. Mark spotted it from the air in the helicopter, Christian and I spotted it while snorkeling. Let us call it a draw! I shall still dub this Markie Island in honour of my friend, as Mark quickly organized a tender boat to take us there and photograph it and then catch up with the True North later. You da man as always my friend, thanks! Second, we competed for capturing the best image from the island. What the prize was and who probably got lost in another competition. Regardless, I am positive I won. I am in another Jedi league altogether.

The island would be a fantastic little Summer getaway. With a big swell you could possibly become a bit wet but apart from that it has all you need.This is captured just as we approached the island, holding the 5D dangerously close to saltwater (but not dropping it). I wished to frame the island with the dramatic sky and the camera dramatically low to capture the crystal clear paradisiac waters of PNG. It is a single shot, cropped slightly and with a natural less is more work-in-progress post processing:

png-island-infinity

The Island of Infinity

This is a timeless slice of Papua New Guinea. Nothing on this island will reveal Time (well except the Three Musketeers in a boat). This has me thinking. Time has always been non-linear for me and my mind seems to be able to exist in different timelines simultaneously. Time slows down and speeds up. Time has slowed down for me a few times these past days, something it has not done in half a year. It has opened the flood gates to still breathing timelines I have recorded but yet to process. As I inserted coins into the washing machine yesterday my mind was living in many places at once. I slipped to and from timelines of coin operated laundry in Beatty, Nevada; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Østerbro, Copenhagen. When I walk the streets of Cairns and Dave Matthews provides the soundtrack I am whisked away to driving long beautiful stretches of road in desolate Death Valley.

You cannot capture something truly timeless as you freeze time when you capture it. Still; this island would seem to exist in a sea of time of it’s own forever fascinating the visitor. Possibly I need an Island of Infinity to process some of my recordings; pause time for a spell.

True North True Heaven

A huge thank you to Mark for the opportunity to go on True North to PNG. It blew my mind mate. True North is a ship in a league of it’s own and a big thank you to the awesome crew. Thanks to my fellow musketeers Mark and Christian, and Jen and Lee-anne. Hi to all my fellow passengers, special mention to Greggy of the Volcano Visual Artist Pioneers Team! True North, the ship, the crew, the company, the experience is one awe-inspiring adventure. Oh sorry I was naughty and kept turning off the air-con in my room, I do not like air-con. Oh and can I have one more pancake for breakfast please? Oh I forgot I am now in a backpackers…oh how to deal with reality after heaven?

21 Comments on “Island of Infinity”

    1. Thanks mate, going through all comments now and constantly reliving this amazing adventure. So much happened I basically just recorded a lot of it and am now re-playing it on my inner film projector (yes there's one in my head, widescreen). See you in Freo in a few weeks.

  1. Great blog post Flemming. I too have been very luck to have walked bare foot on the decks of the True North, only if it was just for one day, then squeezed on one of the couches with Mr and Mrs Fletcher in some bumpy seas, trying to remain cool and calm!

    Cheers

  2. Flembot it is lovely mate. Marks Island is a great name for it. I'm sure he was the only white man to have stepped foot on it in history. I am posting one of my shots tomorrow of Marks Island. I like this though, a lot.

    1. Thanks Christian, glad you agree I won that competition 🙂 What was the prize again? 🙂 Yes I am quite certain Mark was the first and in the tradition of white people getting to some remote island, we promptly renamed it 😀 (being sarcastic and slightly truthful as well).

  3. pretty cool indeed Flembot. and great words to go with it as always! 🙂

    does make you wonder if this was once a island with a bit more clearance on the water level though doesn't it. looks to me like some poor person lost their perfect home 🙁

    1. Thanks Stephen! Btw your name Flembot has caught on, seems to now be the fave nick name employed by Markie Mark and CF. I think this is just a shack for fishing etc, doubt it was a home.

      1. haha, damn… i'll have to try and come up with another nickname for you then won't I…. had it to myself for quite a while…. oh well, it was a good run haha. you are a machine though! 😛

        and yeah, that sounds much happier as a fishing hut. i'll keep thinking of it that way though. kinda like when kitty ran away to a better place all those years ago… haha. nah probably is very well a fishing hut, was hard to tell from first look and get the size of the hut. would have been one nice spot back in it's day that's for sure! 🙂

    1. Yeah some places in PNG, it was like swimming in a swimming pool. A swimming pool with 30 degree warm crystal clear salt water, corrals, fish etc! Snorkeled for 3 hours straight without getting cold at all.

  4. Hey mate – lovely capture of "Mark's Island". Wish I'd been there with you guys on that exercise – what an amazing and beautiful setting; so typical of the paradise that PNG is. Still blows me away that you can get get off a boat as special as the True North and visit untouched scenes like that just a few minutes away.

    Was great meeting you and thanks for all the tips so generously given. Will always remember our landing of the pioneering Volcano Visual Artist Pioneers Team!

    1. Greg, thanks a lot matey! You gotta be always ready to jump and go hard (no that's not what I mean) straight away to keep up with the Three Musketeers. No time to sit around at lunch enjoying red wine telling dirty jokes 🙂

      What blows me away now I am back in my (admittedly warped) version of reality is how quickly it becomes everyday life to jump off True North, into a tender, cruise ashore and capture outstanding images, then back for coffee and biscuits, bam, back on a tender, go snorkeling, back again, lunch, back on tender, more shooting etc.

      Stay tuned for one very long blog post about our landing at the Volcano! Have some great video from the boat ride over. VVAP !

  5. Looking fwd to the blog post by the founding member of the VVAP team that visited the warped parallel universe of the altered landscape of Rabaul!

    You are da ward magician mate!

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