Down a dark gravel road:

I came to the top and slowly pulled my rental car alongside the path. It was wet, muddy, cold, foggy and pretty miserable. I have a joke with my friends that things always work out for me. Kind of like Domino in the new Deadpool 2 movie (a character I coincidentally fell in love with as soon as I learned of her super power). Anyway, this trip did not seem to be working out for me. I changed my flight home so I could explore New Zealand a little more than I usually do and it was turning out to be kind of lame. At first I was quite frustrated but eventually I tried changing my perspective on it.

I like taking pictures. Let's just take pictures I told myself. Even if the weather is complete garbage, I'll just take creepy photos. Ones with fog and rain and clouds and gloom. If I'm lucky (and I usually am), the rain will stop long enough for me to pull out my camera. So the above photo is the first one I took. I crawled to a halt at the top of the hill and stepped out in my flip-flops (jandals if you're in New Zealand). It was still relatively warm and I found it easier to run around without any real shoes on. If I was going to get muddy it might as well have been on my bare feet rather than my clean shoes.

After driving quite a ways further, I came to this beach that was down a steep hill. The car I was driving did not have four-wheel drive and it was pretty much the most basic, and cheapest, car you could rent. I hadn't paid for the insurance on it so I was particularly careful about driving across gravel and sand, not wanting to cause any damage that I would be held accountable for. I decided to venture downwards to see what was at the bottom. Going down is always the easy part. I hadn't even thought what it would take to get back up. I'll get to that part later.

At the bottom there were only a couple of cars and a camper. There was a small wooden staircase that led you from the parking area to the black sanded beach. It had stopped raining but the clouds were still pretty evident. I had come this far and I wasn't going to leave without putting my feet on the sand and in the water. Despite the cold, I needed to feel the water. Raglan is known for its amazing waves and surfing. I'm not really a surfer, although I have since learned how, but I still wanted to dip my feet in.

With my feet in the water, I wandered closer and closer to the piece of land that was jutting out into the ocean. The sea was fairly rough and the waves aggressively rolled onto the sand where I stood. Despite the clouds and cold wind on my skin, the sight was quite beautiful to witness firsthand. The weather was bad but I didn't mind. Each step along the way I was discovering new and exciting locations. There's something extremely fun about wandering around without much of a clue as to where you're going. You just kind of come across things and it creates a sense of wonderment as to what you'll see next.

I was starting to realize there isn't really such thing as bad weather, just bad equipment. Ok, I wish I had come up with that but I didn't. I literally heard someone say that this past week (because the weather has been pretty crazy) and I thought it was genius. Either way, I learned to accept the weather as it was and take my pictures no matter what was going on around me. I think a lot of times us photographers set up how we want something to look in our mind and are disappointed if it shows up differently. I know I'm like that. At the end of the day what matters most is that you're able to capture what's right in front of you, no matter the condition that is presented.

I began down the opposite way of the beach and saw a few people enjoying the sand. I thought it was funny to see anyone at all, considering the weather. Still it was nice to have a few humans out where I was. Earlier in the day I began to worry that if my car broke down I would be stranded in the middle of no where with zero phone reception. Knowing that I had a few strangers to rely on was a comforting thought. Per usual I waited for them to move before taking my photo. I showed up just as they were packing up their things and heading back to the camper I had seen earlier. Another couple was heading back to their jeep. I quickly snapped the above photo and returned to my car.

As I drove back up the hill I had previously descended, I came across a small waterfall. It seemed to pop up from nowhere honestly. The one thing I love about New Zealand is you're apt to find every kind of climate and waterfalls or waterways all around you. This was just one of those times. I wasn't even looking for it, I just happened to see it. I pulled alongside the road and exited my car. I grabbed my tripod and carefully walked my way through the tall grass, trying hard not to fall or trip over mounds of dirt. I set up my shot, snapped it, and then stood for a minute to admire its beauty. The daylight wasn't going to last forever and I had quite a ways to go before getting back to my hostel. I decided to move on.

Now back in my car I was ready to leave. There was just one problem, I was now stuck. I had pulled off alongside the road so that I wouldn't be in the way of anyone who wanted to leave the beach. In doing so I had unknowingly parked right in a massive puddle of mud. That fact, coupled with the gravel road and steep hill, made for a very upsetting realization, I didn't know how I was going to leave. Low key panic set in as I tried maneuvering the steering wheel left and right. I tried backing up and moving forward, going fast and crawling slow. Nothing I did seemed to help. The only thing that was occurring is that I seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the mud.

Much to my delight, one of the previous strangers I saw on the beach was also heading back up the hill. They were better prepared for it's steepness in the jeep they had. Another benefit of New Zealand is that almost everyone you run into is super friendly and super helpful. I didn't even have to wave them down. Of their own determinism they stopped to see if I needed any help. With some pushing and pulling, turning and twisting, my car finally became free. I might still be there if it wasn't for them. I don't even want to know how the camper got up the hill. Even after getting out of the mud I still had to very carefully drive the rest of the way up. Slipping almost the entire way to the top, and with the guidance of my new friend, I finally made it to the main road. I waved and shouted out my appreciation before driving in the direction I was headed.

A ways down the road I stopped again just to take in the view. I may have even stopped for a time-lapse. I grabbed a quick photo of my rental car to show how I had successfully taken a crappy two-wheel drive vehicle on the back roads of New Zealand. Not sure if it was that smart of me to do but I somehow made it through. It seemed this had also worked out for me.

I'm going to be radically honest with you. I genuinely think things just happen to work out for me. I don't know if that's arrogance or just pure stupidity but they generally do. There's one thing you have to understand about that though. I'm not always happy about it. It's not always a good situation. A lot of times it can be quite painful and upsetting. Then there are the times where it's extremely positive and I'm very happy about it. I think what it comes down to is my ultimate realization that all things happen for a reason. If I'm able to look at life from that perspective, everything works out for me one hundred percent of the time. That and I'm always trying to stay super positive about the things I have to face in life. I'm usually able to do that with a lot humor and an extreme will to carry on no matter what.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider upvoting, commenting, resteeming and giving my account a follow. If you have any questions or comments please post them below, I'd love to respond to them.