Smith, W. S., 1923, Photograph, PRG 280/1/33/188
A small crowd of well wishers stand with Aidan de Brune, a man who is walking around Australia after his arrival in Adelaide; the premises of the Imperial Hotel, King William Street can be seen in the background. A researcher has provided the following information: "In the event, de Brune took two and a half years to complete the walk. He was laid up in Burketown Hospital in the Gulf Country of north western Queensland for about two months, in February and March 1922, and at other times did not walk, because of illness or because he chose to remain in a town and give a lecture on his travels. He was away from Sydney for 897 days, of which he walked on 572 days. In October 1923, de Brune was near Ceduna, along the Great Australian Bight, on his way back to Sydney, with about 1500 miles to walk. A journalist, J. T. Beckett, who had met de Brune in Darwin, during the walk, wrote in The Northern Standard, Darwin: 'When you see him you want to get away from him. When you speak to him you don't want him to go away from you. He is a man and a gentleman up and down, and a library of information. He is a sport among sportsmen and a man of whom the Australian Journalists' Association should be proud, for he has not spared himself to get copy. Aidan de Brune has not finished his walk but should he never move another yard further, he will have put up a record that few, if any, will ever attempt to equal.' A biography of Aidan de Brune and a brief bibliography of his writings can be found in Ten Australian Authors by Aidan de Brune, available from Project Gutenberg Australia.