taking sydney and oprah

My dear friend Odette was one of the lucky ones that won tickets to Oprah's Show when she was here in December for her Ultimate Adventure. I was her very lucky plus one! 

We flew out to Sydney from Perth on the Sunday night and arrived in Sydney the following morning, very early. We took a cab to the city and arrived at our hotel, we stayed in the Rocks so we could walk to the Opera House on the day. 

From the hotel we went straight to our ticket collection! 

After getting our mysterious Green and White bands we embarked on our adventure for the day, starting with exploring the CBD and doing some light shopping. That night we had a booking at Aria. 

Dinner was delicious. The company even better, thank you Odette. 

As we made our way back to the hotel from the restaurant it was clear to see that things were gearing up for Oprah. 

The next morning was Oprah morning. We rose early and joined the hundreds, thousands of people that were making there way to the Oprah House as they affectionately were referring to it.

The line gently ambled towards the Oprah House as everyone around shared their stories about where they were from, who won the tickets and I wonder, who will be the guests on our show. Of course everyone speculated as to what gift, if any Oprah would be giving out. 

I was quietly confident that we would be getting a Kailis Pearl. My Nana had seen it on the news on Sunday night and had rung my dad immediately to tell him to let me know. 

As we waited in line Oprah drive by and the whole line started screaming, imagine 2500 screaming women and men. It was rather intense, she leaned out the window and told us all how much she loved Australia and was looking forward to the show. That is when it all got exciting. 

Odette and I worked our way through the security and to our very amazing seats, three rows from the front, behind the Rabitohs. We were both so surprised and thrilled. 

Oprah was great, I realised why I use to love her so much. I really went off her for a while because she didn't change her formula. Then the way that she engaged the audience in the ad breaks and spoke about her life and when asked where Steadman was, replied 'we don't travel together for work, we don't really talk about work, we kept our work and life separate'. It was so nice how candidly she spoke with us and laughed with us, she was so engaging, thank you Oprah. 

When the show finished we all got up eager to get out of the sun that was now high in the sky. We all left together and chatted about our beautiful new necklaces and what else we were doing in Sydney. 

The guys that we were sitting next to left in a super hurry, running off to catch planes for work. One of them had to be in Melbourne for a meeting at 2.30. It was 12.30 at this point, I hope he made it?

Odette and I headed off for lunch as we walked out we saw the afternoon line and all the press interviewing them, as they did us that morning. We met one journalist who had flown down from upper NSW and had been lucky enough to get a last minute ticket. She stood in the line from 2am that morning and waited with all the strangers. Wow I was tucked up nicely in my hotel bed, dreaming about the day ahead!

We also met a group of teenagers that had done the same, they were in starbucks getting some caffeine and using the amenities, they were standing room only and hadn't slept, eaten or drunk properly for nearly 36 hours, I call that dedication.


What was apparent from this whole experience was the fun that comes from something like this. It was also so nice to see strangers all together, chatting and excited about the adventure ahead. Nobody knew anyone, but we will forever have one thing in common... Oprah.  

All in all we had a ball. Thank you Oprah and your wonderful team!