Local women join Oprah in Australia
By Virlane Torbit For The Reporter
My mother, Donna Richardson, and I were blessed to be in the audience at the season premiere of the Oprah show last September where Oprah gave the entire audience a trip to Australia.
To be selected for the audience, Oprah had asked potential guests to write about the Oprah show that had made the most difference to them. Oprah had announced this would be her final season after 25 years.
Mom had written a letter about how the show about keeping a gratitude journal had been life changing. I started keeping one too, and have, to this day, had my kids give me five things they are thankful for before going to bed.
The producers liked the three generation aspect of it and chose Mom as one of 150 Ultimate Viewers out of thousands upon thousands of entries. I was lucky to be a “hanger-on” as we guests called ourselves.
Our trip was scheduled for December, which was summertime in Australia. After the is hour flight from Los Angeles, Calif. to Sydney, Australia, the 30% of us were divided into eight groups of various sizes that went to different places all over Australia.
The group that Moms and I were in went to Byron Bay - the eastern most point of Australia, I had never heard of the place, so I wasn’t sure what in expect. I had “outback” and “great barrier reef” on my mind, so I was quite pleasantly surprised by the stunning coastal rainforest we found ourselves visiting.
The welcome ceremony by a group of Aboriginals made it very clear we were not in Illinois any more,
One of the highlights for me was sea-kayaking. I only found out later that the “motor in my boat”, a very large muscular guy. is a world-champion sea kayaker. I am glad I didn’t know ahead of time, as we talked for two hours, without me being nervous as to whom I was talking to.
Another highlight of Byron Bay was Gaia - Olivia Newton-John’s spa and retreat center. We got to spend a day there. Mom and I were chosen to have a private pedicure with Olivia as the producers taped our conversation about Olivia’s and my mutual experience of breast cancer. I don’t know if that will be aired, but it was an overwhelming experience. After the camera people left, we were able to talk more personally and ended up sharing in a circle prayer. It was some thing I will never forget.
The 42 of us hated to leave, but we had to go back to Sydney. I was blessed to meet up with a dear friend that I’d met working at an orphanage in Shenzhen, China when I lived there. When Jemima moved back to Oz, I didn’t think I’d ever see her again, let alone her young daughter Kate. It was so fun to go to a grocery store and see her apartment. She told me I should “look up” a friend named Monique that was scheduled to be at the big welcome party for Oprah that night. There were only 1000 people there so no problem..
So later at the party, we were watching fabulous fireworks, and I was having a “moment” because they reminded me so much of my time in China. The girl in front of me gave an empathetic look toward my tear stained face, I saw that she was a local, so I asked if she knew a person named Monique. She said, “Virlane, I’ve ben looking all over for you!” I couldn’t believe that the one person I asked was her! Coincidence? I think not. Yes, God is good! I even had the chance to chat with Gayle King (Oprah’s best friend) at the party.
We rounded out the rest of the trip with a climb up the Sydney Bridge not for the faint hearted - in which my mother was the oldest person up there. We were the largest group ever to assemble on top, and it took five hours round trip.
We also sailed in a sail boat race and attended a U2 concert and two tappings of the Oprah show, set to air Jan. 20 and 21.
The scenery was so beautiful and the hospitality and generosity of the Australians unmatched, The food was absolutely fantastic and the weather couldn’t have been better.
But above all, the best part of the trip was the people. We have made lifelong friends and I was able to reconnect with my friend Jemima.
It was the trip of a lifetime.
Editor’s Note: This week the Oprah show was airing footage of the trip and local viewers have been tuning in hoping to catch a glimpse of the two local celebrities. Donna and Virlane both reside in Catlin but were formerly residents of Sidell
Photo: Donna Richardson, left and Virlane Richardson Torbit, right, both of Catlin, pose with Olivia Newton-John. The three had a private pedicure together.