One of them is young surf journalist Derek Rielly, of North Bondi.

“G’day Bob, how are ya, mate?” he asks, pulling up a chair next to the (almost) 88-year-old sitting on the sun-soaked balcony of his Northbridge home with a spectacular view of Sailors Bay.

“Here’s a cigar.”

“Good boy,” Hawke replies.

“I know you now,” Rielly, 50, says with a cheeky smile.

The conversation can begin.

Australia’s 23rd and oldest living prime minister has welcomed the youthful, maverick writer at his home on Wednesday afternoons for a chat over a fine cigar since last year.

No topics were off limits for Robert J Hawke. From his mistress-turned-wife Blanche d’Alpuget, nuclear energy, his former deputy Paul Keating to US President Donald Trump.

The tete-a-tetes were last week published by Pan Macmillan Australia for Rielly’s first book Wednesdays with Bob.

Rielly said the idea of writing 70,000 words about Hawke started as “a throwaway line” at a publisher meet-and-greet at the end of 2015.

“I’d never, ever, ever wanted to write a book — I couldn’t think of anything more dull,” the father of three told The Wentworth Courier.

“I said that I’d love to hang out with Bob Hawke, so how about a Bob Hawke book?

“I hadn’t met him before but it was in the back of my mind, I think because of how uninspiring politics is today.

“I don’t think the lack of inspiration in politics is set in stone. It’s just we haven’t had a charismatic leader for such a long time. I thought it would be great for younger Australians to realise that politics could be exciting and it could be inspirational and it could be sexy.”

Rielly — who started his writing career in surf magazines — and his agent agreed on a pitch but next came the seemingly-mammoth task of convincing Hawke to take part.

The deal was sealed after a lunch and email exchange with Blanche, who eventually wrote back: “You’re in luck. Bob laughed at the ‘sitting in a cloud of cigar smoke’ and said yes … I’ll ask her (Mr Hawke’s “office wife” Jill Saunders) for an update of his calendar and get back to you with free days. Always afternoons, as he likes to sleep late and do crossword puzzles.”

For the next eight months Rielly quizzed Mr Hawke on a variety of subjects. Naturally, some were easier to approach than others.

BOB HAWKE ON 60 MINUTES

Mr Hawke liked to talk about Australia becoming a storage facility for the world’s nuclear waste and about his parents, who were incredibly proud of him.

But Labor’s longest-serving prime minister found it tougher to open up about death.

“That first day, I was very, very nervous,” Rielly said.

“But there’s that saying: ‘Fake it ’til you make it’, so I just puffed myself up and buzzed the door. There was no security, nothing. Typical Bob Hawke, the man of the people.

“I wore a suit but it got progressively more casual so, towards the end of it, I was rolling up in a T-shirt and jeans — but never thongs.”

The only unspoken rule was that Rielly had to bring “a very expensive cigar” before every conversation.

“Mate, got a cigar?” was the first thing Hawke asked him.

“I asked Blanche what he liked and they couldn’t be too strong or they couldn’t be Cuban,” Rielly said.

“I’d get him Davidoffs from the Dominican Republic.”

On other days, to paint Mr Hawke’s enigma from the outside, Rielly interviewed his former Liberal rival John Howard, Labor allies Gareth Evans and Kim Beazley, live-in stepson Louis Pratt and friends — diplomat Richard Woolcott, economist Ross Garnaut and long-time mate Col Cunningham.

Ms d’Alpuget told The Wentworth Courier the chapter about advertising guru John Singleton made her laugh a lot.

“There are so many bits I liked,” the 73-year-old said.

Mr Singleton, entrepreneur and horse owner, had famously switched sides to run Labor’s advertising in the 1987 election at Mr Hawke’s behest.

But when Rielly turned up to the multi-millionaire’s office to talk about his friendship of nearly 40 years with Mr Hawke, he did not believe him.

“I’m ringing him up,” Mr Singleton told Rielly, the phone pressed against his ear with Mr Hawke’s number dialled in. “I’m just going to ring him to ask him if there’s anything he doesn’t want me to say. See how long he’s on the phone for.”

Finally convinced that Rielly’s book was legitimate, Mr Singleton went on to talk about his pal, the highs and the lows — with many swear words intertwined.

“John Howard was also hilarious,” Rielly said.

“I went through his secretaries and the meeting was a Thursday at 11 o’clock.

“I was driving to the surf and this private number came up on my phone. I chucked it on the seat but it rang again.

“I picked it up and he said, ‘I’m terribly sorry, can we please make our appointment Friday at the same time, I hope I haven’t put you out’.

“That was one of the highlights. John Howard calling me personally to change an appointment and being so apologetic and so polite.

“That followed through the whole process of interviewing Mr Howard.”

Is it a fan book? Maybe it is, Rielly acknowledged in Wednesdays with Bob.

“You’ve got to remember these guys are the coal face of fundamental and profound changes in Australia,” Rielly said.

“The great thing about the Hawke government was that you had the social policies of the left with the economic policies that were centre-right.

“You had Hawke to sell them — and there were tough sells. No one else could have sold them. Keating couldn’t have sold them.

“But people trusted Bob Hawke.”

Throughout the dozen interviews with Mr Hawke, Rielly said he found the leader had two sides.

“There is a wonderful playfulness to him and friendliness. He really does seem to enjoy people,” he said.

“And then there is the Rhodes Scholar, the great intellect and we’ll talk about everything from artificial intelligence to the Palestinian peace process.

“Through it all, he’ll have these incredible bawdy jokes — it’s a rare mixture.”

Back to the balcony in Northbridge.

From afar, Mr Hawke and Rielly could not seem more different.

The charismatic octogenarian, wearing a buttoned shirt and ironed pants with neatly combed white hair, puffs on his cigar.

Closely next to him, the young writer is sporting a loose, blue T-shirt with black jeans and golden skin from many hours in the surf.

Chatting away, Mr Hawke asks Rielly about his book launch. Rielly asks Mr Hawke about his health.

It was through their similarities that their friendship blossomed.

A love for politics. An outgoing personality. An enjoyment for others’ company. A desire to inspire a future generation of young Australians.

As the sun lowers in Northbridge, Mr Hawke tells Rielly: “Come back anytime, mate.”