"I don't think I've seen a winter here for about 16 years," he said.

"I normally take three or four months off each year to get as far away from a beach as I can. Once I think I've got enough money, I go for a while."

For the past 10 years, those winters have been spent in Africa, with his camera in hand, taking photos of tribespeople.

Mr McRae has family there so he can set up camp with them and then spend a week or two driving through the continent.

In his decade of travelling, he has made many friends, including a family from the Himba people of northern Namibia.

A photo of Tjivio, one of the wives of Himba chief Tjanongombe, with her two children has won Mr McRae second place in the Getty Images photo competition #RePicture.

The photo was taken three weeks after Tjanongombe had died of cancer.

"On my most recent visit, she had just come out of mourning," Mr McRae said. "This image was captured on the first morning after the wives left the first wives' hut after being sealed off from the outside world for two weeks.

"Tjivio remembered the time I spent previously with her and her family and called me into her hut to show that, even with her loss, she was still happy. She had her children and the support network of the larger family.

"Himba families are very close and the expression on Tjivio's face really showed how content she is with her family, even at such a rocky time."

Mr McRae has always taken a camera with him on his travels, but it wasn't until he started travelling to Africa that he took things a bit more seriously.

"When I started doing more of the overland stuff in Africa, you've got a beer in one hand and a camera in the other - there's not much else you can do," he said.

As part of his prize, Mr McRae will become a contributing photographer with Getty Images.

While he's in no hurry to jettison his yearly routine of eight months of lifeguarding and four months of travelling, Mr McRae said pursuing photography full-time might become a possibility.

"Obviously at some stage, I'm going to get to the point where I can no longer be a lifeguard," he said.

"But with the photography, I'm shaping myself a nice little avenue that I can go down."