And I like the concept of a visitor book too. The kind of tome that you might find at the entrance of a famous, sacred place.

And the pages of such books are scrawled with the names of people who have stopped there awhile, of those who had offered up a small slice of their life to be there.

And the date etched alongside the name of their hometown too; and on that line, left for the future, a sliver of evidence that they existed, that they had made it, that they’d come that far, at least…

And sometimes too, there is the opportunity to leave a remark along with your name, a single adjective - amazing, beautiful, wonderful - or a sentence that reveals to the stranger something you wouldn’t dare mention to your family or friend…

“I made it here to this remarkable, important place - and now I know I’m alive.”

And I’ve signed and read my share of them books.  And I always enjoyed writing Maitland, NSW, Australia; always felt good writing Horseshoe Bend, Australia.

And I often thought that someone might wonder about where that place is, and what the people there are like, what life is like in Horseshoe Bend…

And I was wondering about all the visitors and visitors books in old Maitland, was thinking about the pilgrims and day-trippers, the emissaries and agents, the roamers and royals who have stopped awhile at the old river town.

But I recall dear reader, on March 29, 1983, Diana and Charles, the most famous couple in the world, well, they dropped in for a visit…

And the Rolls Royce stopped down there near the old Mercury Corner and the splendid couple walked splendidly down along the street of all streets, down past 10,000 of us …

And me there too, standing on the edge of Sun Street beside the Royal Hotel, feeling the autumn sunshine, trying to catch a glimpse of the special visitors.

And in they went to the Town Hall - like my mum and dad did, like I did and maybe you have too. And the band played, and the assembled throng beat their pumpkin scented hands together furiously and smiled their river-town smiles.

And before they met Nifty Neville Wran and Alan Walsh, Princess Diana and Prince Charles, they stopped for a moment in the foyer, and you guessed it - they signed the visitors book!

And their names and addresses remain in that tome: March 29 1983: Charlie and Di, Buckingham Palace, London England - “Maitland’s a curious and charming town. Long may she prosper!”

And so it goes… Goodnight.