As a then country writer for the Sydney Sun-Herald the aim was to outsmart the Telegraph by showing what a bush journo could do.

For starters revealing the secret Sydney route of the Olympic torch in a front-page exclusive before Olympics Minister Michael Knight's announcement.

It caused a huge fuss and the Olympic organising committee wasn't impressed and a police investigation couldn't find the truck my information fell off.

In another coup Olympics Minister Knight flew to Orange to visit Ophir to announce a gift of gold from Orange, Cabonne and Blayney to go towards Olympic winners' medals.

A photo and story was needed to make first editions next day. And beat the Sunday Telegraph.

The Telegraph mob hopped off the plane and headed for Ophir.

I asked Mr Knight whether I could take a photo of him gold panning in a small dam on Huntley Rd just a few kilometres away.

He agreed, we hopped the fence, photos were taken and he and his entourage went on to Ophir.

I raced the film back to the airport, gave it to the Hazelton Airline pilot and he took it back to Sydney to be picked up.

The photo made front page the next day. The Telegraph didn't. Tee hee.

Olympic swimming champion Gail Neall won gold in the 400m individual medley at Munich but failed in a ballot to get tickets to watch her event at the Sydney Olympics.

After my front page story in the Sun-Herald Premier Bob Carr phoned her before 10.30am to say he would ensure she got the tickets.

And to round things off I flew to Longreach to cover the Olympic flame arrival there in the heart of Matilda country amid a sea of horse riders, Akubra hats, Drizabone coats and dusty four-wheel drives.

Just a few Olympic memories.

Standing out like a sore thumb are those traffic light buttons you press to cross the street.

Just imagine how many times people touch these things every day so they're a no-no in these coronavirus days.

Most pedestrians use their elbows to avoid touching but while we have to put up with these non-sanitised buttons Transport for NSW has solved the problem in Forest Rd near the hospital with automated crossing lights.

There's no need to push the button.

You just wait for the 'walk' signal to safely cross the road.

That's what we need in town.

Hoons have again been busy leaving lots of long strips of rubber on Orange streets as they do noisy late-night burnouts in their rust-bucket cars.

They're a dangerous annoyance we can do without and they should be caught and dealt with by police who can suspend a driver's licence on the spot for a burnout or for street racing.

The same penalties can apply to passengers who willingly take part or take photographs of hoon activity.

Unless people see them, these idiots are hard to catch.