Part of the initial funding submission included producing an audio recording of the book to accompany the print copy. The main reason behind this was to provide a format for elders who can’t read because of vision impairment or low literacy and to provide greater access to semi-literate readers.

It was decided early on that a male voice would be best to read Norman’s story. Caden Pearson was chosen as the narrator because of his relationship to Norman Baird (great grandson) and this combined nicely with his good English skills and his experience with film production.

Alison Banks from the Queensland Narrating Service provided valuable support to Caden and produced the master copy for reproduction. Background music used in the audio recording was played by Peter Ellis on the Mezon accordion and taken from the CD ‘Take me back to Bendigo’.

Right: The inside back cover where the disc is held in place by a foam dot. The picture is the old Annan River Bridge near Cooktown.