‘I miss my stepdad. He passed away four years ago. He was a driving influence. I miss his wonderful stories. He was old school – a different generation. Tough but fair. He grew up poor. He was a fisherman. He ended up with macular degeneration and loss of hearing so he was pretty much blind and deaf but he always had his sense of humour.

‘I try to keep my sense of humour. Life’s pretty hard if you don’t have it. If you can laugh at yourself and you can laugh at a situation, you can cope a lot better. You need to be able to see the ridiculous.

‘One of my husband’s best mates is having radiation treatment for a really rare cancer. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be good but you just have to keep that spirit otherwise the world gets on top of you.’

‘Be responsible. You don’t need to destroy really valuable, pristine and unique natural treasures just to get your minerals from the ground and to have jobs.’

What’s one thing surprising that you’ve found out about each other since you’ve known each other?
‘The amount of stuff we have in common – the fact that we’re damn near the same person. We’re very similar in personality which pisses a lot of people off. Painfully extroverted!’

What’s one of the nicest thing she’s done for you?
‘Whenever I’m upset, she takes me out for coffee and makes me feel better. I can tell her I’m sad and she’s there in a heartbeat.’
‘It’s the same for me. If I’m in a horrible mood, and even if she’s got something to do, she’ll set aside the time to just hang out with me. I know she’s helped me through some really rough patches that I’ve been through even recently.’

‘We’ve both been dealing with mental issues. Both of our psychologists say not to let go of each other.’