Haywards Heath to New Zealand

I grew up in a commuter town called Haywards Heath, which is kind of slap-bang between London and Brighton. The only real photography I did in Haywards was in the Chinese restaurant where I worked as a dishwasher; I mainly shot around Brighton and London. I think the reason why I didn't take many photos around where I lived was because I preferred the atmosphere of a big shooting environment like a city, in comparison to a small town where I knew a lot of people. I wish that I had shot what was on my doorstep as well as what was elsewhere.

When I was 18 I started wanting to go somewhere where I knew nobody and could make a name for myself. I remember watching the film 'Into The Wild' hundreds of times when I was 16/17/18, and felt like I wanted to have a completely fresh lifestyle. To save for a trip to New Zealand, I started working double shifts as a Bricklayer's labourer in the day, and as a kitchenhand in Waitrose Café at night/on weekends. New Zealand seemed so attractive to me as it was literally as far away as I could get from everything I knew – I couldn't wait.

I flew into Christchurch and desperately started looking for a car. I scoured Trade Me, Backpacker Board and Facebook car groups to find the cheapest car with as little miles as possible. I eventually found one that I thought was in good enough shape to last me for a good while into my trip. That was when the adventure began.

My yellow toyota Corolla on a road near Roxburgh

I went away with my best mate, but then continued to travel solo when he left to go to Australia. I then got work as a painter's labourer in a small town called Cromwell but then quickly moved to Queenstown, a hub for snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking and other adrenaline sports. There I snowboarded and got different jobs in construction and landscaping and started to focus more on photography, which is what I wanted to do in New Zealand.

A picture taken on my first helicopter ride into Southland