Just a couple of kilometres from Cue we started spotting life-size metal cutouts of blue sheep, and red dogs on kayaks. A little further down the road we saw Eric, sporting a crazy hat and obviously trying to get some phone reception, as he paced around his quad bike complete with Aussie flag, proudly fluttering in the wind. I’d barely started asking the question, and Steve was already slowing down to do a U-turn!

Pretty much everyone we got to know in Marble Bar, we met in the Iron Clad Hotel, including Tim. Like so many people in this outback town, gold is in Tim’s blood. While Tim uses a metal detector his mother Katie used a yandi. Shallow multi-purpose dishes, yandis were traditionally used by Aboriginal women to carry water and bush tucker, but they could also use them to sort chaff from seeds, and in these parts, to separate gold from dirt.

…Sobrane was racing around getting ready for her upcoming one-night-only Out of Africa exhibition - moving house and hosting a concert in one week wasn’t enough for this powerhouse of a human being. Between sips of herbal tea we grabbed a few photos before she dashed off to paint a huge mural of zebras. The glorious natural light didn’t go to waste as the Nomadic Cyclists (18 years cycling the world and no sign of slowing down yet), Katya from Slovenia and her partner, Slovakian Mirko were there, along with Francesca from Italy…

A friend to both Pixie and Honest John, Bushy is another Wyndham local adding colour to this small town. Honest John took me to meet Bushy at his home which still shows many signs of its past life as the Post Office.

…Physically petite with a big personality, Pixie has that quick witted, dry humoured, fast-tongued way about her that film-goers around the world hoped all outback Aussies would be like back after watching Crocodile Dundee back in the early eighties…

I explained the serendipitous circumstances that led us to De and Leigh Strange of Strange Images Photography in my earlier Bruce Rock blog post, and we still can’t quite believe how lucky we were to find them within an hour of arriving in town. De and Leigh not only let us camp next to their shearing shed, again amongst the beautiful salmon gums, they welcomed us into their home and into their lives.

When I was asking around about who I should be trying to photograph in Lake Grace, Neil and Elsie’s name came up again and again. Jim has lived in Lake Grace all his life - his family were amongst the first to start farming here. Elsie, a retired nurse grew up down the road in a little town called Newdegate.

I’ve always felt very honoured to share a couple’s wedding day with them, but over the years, I’ve discovered something even more special…photographing the couple who have now become a family.