ALF Manciagli admits he had no idea what he was in for when he accepted an invitation to attend Government House in Sydney on Tuesday to receive his Order of Australia medal.
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Presented by the Governor of NSW Margaret Beazley, the OAM was given in recognition of Mr Manciagli's services to photography.
"The day went very smoothly but I didn't realise how big the ceremony was going to be," he said.
"It's not something you do everyday."
Mr Manciagli said he was "very proud" to have had his partner Linda Gleeson, son Riccardo Manciagli and step-daughter Caitlin Dickson attend the event.
After starting his career as a foreign correspondent, Mr Manciagli said he's very pleased to have ended up living in Orange and collaborating with journalist Denis Gregory to publish a number of books.
During the ceremony several of the pair's books were mentioned including There's some bloody funny people on the road to Broken Hill.
"It's a very conservative ceremony so when they mentioned that book a lot of people cracked up," he said.
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