One of the rewarding aspects of talking about and signing my Hustling Hinkler book is meeting lots of fascinating people, all with their own stories to tell. I had a pleasant suprise at Carindale Library on Saturday 17 August, when I discovered mid-way through my talk that in the audience was 92-year-old Eldred (Ed) Cunningham, who told us he had seen Bert Hinkler arrive in Bundaberg at the end of his record-breaking England-Australia flight in 1928!

with Jennie at Carindale Library 17 August 2013

Not only did Ed vividly remember that day he went along with his dad to see the famous aviator land, he gave us a brilliant rendition of the 1928 song, ‘Hustling Hinkler’. The 25 or so people assembled at the library for the occasion gave him a well-deserved burst of applause for his contribution to a very enjoyable session. My wife Cheryl has suggested I should take Ed and his Hustling Hinkler song with me whenever I talk about the book.

Carindale Library is a modern progressive facility with great resources and well-equipped meeting

with Craig, co-owner of Dymocks Carindale, Brisbane

rooms, and I am thankful to Jennie and the other staff there for the invitation to talk about Hustling Hinkler. Olwyn from Dymocks Carindale was also there with a book stand, and kindly invited me to the store, where I found myself face-to-face with a poster of myself. Scary.

Hustling Hinkler and I have been busy the past week. In addition to the Carindale Library talk, I did interviews with Sky Kirkham for the 4ZZZZ bookclub, Sue Gammon and David on ABC Wide Bay (which includes Bert Hinkler’s hometown of Bundaberg), and two with newspapers: Megan from the Sunshine Coast Daily, and Jim Fagon from Noosa Today.

On Friday, I had an interesting and enjoyable chat on ABC local radio with Phil Smith and his mate Ian ‘Watto’ Watson, in the ‘Shed happens’ segment,  on the theme of ‘blokes and the spirit of adventure – are there still “Hinklers” today?’  You can download an mp3 of the show, which is part of ‘Breakfast on Saturday’ program. Watto has written a self-published book, Every bloke’s a champion – even you, which he tells me is available at ABC online. His theme, ‘I’ve never seen a bloke go backwards with encouragement’, has echoes of my e-book, Extending your use-by date: why retirement age is only a number, published earlier this year.

In the coming week, I’m doing an interview on the ABC Sunshine Coast breakfast program on Wednesday, then I’m off on a short tour – firstly to Rosetta Books Maleny (Sunshine Coast hinterland) at 6pm Thursday 22 August, and then the following evening at Written Dimension at nearby Noosa. On Saturday 24 August at 11am I’ll be at the library in Bert Hinkler’s hometown of Bundaberg.

I’m looking forward to returning to that city, which was affected by severe flooding earlier this year,

Hinkler Hall of Aviation Bundaberg

and is apparently still recovering. In an earlier blog, I told how that event had an impact on my plans to obtain photos for Hustling Hinkler, because the waters that washed away parts of the city also swept through the records section of the Hinkler Hall of Aviation. Fortunately that marvellous facility has now re-opened.