After an assignment in the South West recently, I drove past the remnants of the "Waroona Fire". 

The devastating fire burnt through 71,000 hectares of bushland in the south west of Western Australia, destroying 35 homes in the historic timber milling town of Yarloop, with flames licking the border of farming towns Harvey and Waroona. 

The road to Yarloop was still closed, so I drove to a nearby pine plantation off the Forrest Highway and arrived to an eerie landscape. 

In late 2015, I had the privilege of travelling to the towns of Port Hedland and Exmouth to produce a documentary about the history of an area in Western Australia, known as "Cyclone Alley" - one of the most cyclone prone areas in the world. 

As we have well and truly moved into the digital age, loading up an old hard drive is the modern day equivalent of opening an old diary. 

After coming across a dusty old Hewlett Packard 200G, which required some even dustier weird looking cords and connections to get going, I came across "WON A BOAT". 

I was so incredibly stoked to be a finalist in the Fremantle International Portrait Prize. 

The prize takes place every three years and attracts thousands of entries from all over the world. 

A funny tale about the kindness of strangers... 

So an Australian lady (moi) walks into an antique store on Ninth Avenue. 

Inside are a group of older gentlemen laughing and chatting. I am somehow drawn in. 

They say "we meet here to talk. None of this iPhone, Internet, texting thing. It's all about conversation and debate".

Next thing you know...