![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2001\/01\/queenoftheoutback.jpg\")
They came from everywhere, crossing the desert in dusty utes and trucks and four-wheel drives.<\/p>\nJenny Brown followed our hero girl on a 4352km journey as she brought Christmas cheer to families in the bush.<\/b><\/p>\n
They came from everywhere, crossing the desert in dusty utes and trucks and four-wheel drives.<\/p>\n
The children carried candles, their dads swigged cans of beer – and they travelled hundreds of kilometers just to see and hear Nikki Webster sing.<\/p>\n
The 13-year-old star of the Olympics opening ceremony was Queen of the Outback during an epic, 4352km whistleshop tour aboard the Indian Pacific train.<\/p>\n
Mobbed wherever she went – even in the middle of nowhere – Nikki travelled from coast to coast bringing festive cheer to some of this country’s most isolated communities.<\/p>\n
And if our hero girl looked small in the centre of Stadium Australia, she seemed tinier still surrounded by the empty vastness of the Nullabor!
\n<\/p>\n
At Pimba, deep in the harsh salt lake country of South Australia, Nikki got off the train at sunset to perform for an audience of mums, dads and excited schoolkids sporting reindeer antlers.<\/p>\n
At Ivanhoe, near the NSW mining city of Broken Hill, the entire town turned out to make Nikki’s visit the excuse for a day-long party.<\/p>\n
And at the tiny refuelling station of cook – with a total population of three – the young star presented four-year-old Brody Hutchinson with a brand new bicycle, courtesy of the Great Southern Railway.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t get too much happening sround here, so this is a bit of a nvelty for us,\u201d smiled Brody\u2019s mum, Michelle, whose lifestyle gives new meaning to the word \u201cremote\u201d. <\/p>\n
A \u201cquick trip\u201d to the nearest shopping centre, at Ceduna, takes five hours there and five hours back \u2013 while taking Brody to kindergarten entails a four-hour drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t get there quite as often as I\u2019d like,\u201d said 34-year-old Michelle. \u201cI know he loves the company of other kids, but it\u2019s difficult when you live so far away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, she and her 36-year-old husband Bruce \u2013 janitor of the once-thriving Nullabor township \u2013 knew all about Nikki Webster. \u201cWe don\u2019t watch much television,\u201d explained Michelle, formerly a secretary to legendary Queensland roads and racing minister, the late Russ Hinze. \u201cBut we did see the Olympics opening ceremony, and we thought Nikki was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her part, the pint-sized performer was bowled over by the warmth and enthusiasm of her country fans. \u201cThis is a dream come true for me,\u201d says Nikki, who lives with her family \u2013 her mum, Tina; dad, Mark; 16-year-old brother, Scott, and two pet pooches, Star and Princess \u2013 in Sydney\u2019s crowded inner-west. \u201cI haven\u2019t spent much time in the bush before, so this has been a great experience for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the people I\u2019ve met have been wonderful. Even in the city, I\u2019ve never given so many autographs!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it\u2019s pretty amazing,\u201d the young star told Woman\u2019s Day<\/i>, her big brown eyes sparkling with excitement. \u201cI can\u2019t believe what\u2019s happened since the Olympics. I always dreamt of being an all-round entertainer, but I never thought it would happen so quickly \u2013 or that I\u2019d be given the chance to perform with role models like Kylie Minogue and Olivia Newton-John.<\/p>\n
\u201cKylie has even offered to advise me if I ever need help with my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Nikki\u2019s success is no surprise to her grandparents, 64-year-old Margie and Brian Keane, who chaperoned her on the trip-of-a-lifetime. Brian, who normally runs a pet shop in Forest Hill, London, said, \u201cThis is something I\u2019ll remember until my dying day. We never expected to see the Outback, let alone in such comfort.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the experience of a lifetime. And to watch Nikki sing to all these people, it\u2019s wonderful, absolute magic.\u201d<\/p>\n
At which point, proud \u201cnanna\u201d Margie beamed, \u201cWe\u2019ve known for years she\u2019d be a star one day, although we\u2019re not sure where she gets it from \u2013 certainly not from me, because I can\u2019t sing at all!\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikki appears in the Main Street Parade at Warner Bros. Movie World on January 2, 3, 4 and 5.<\/i><\/p>\n
Source: Woman’s Day Jenny Brown followed our hero girl on a 4352km journey as she brought Christmas cheer to families in the bush. They came from everywhere, crossing the desert in dusty utes and trucks and four-wheel drives. The children carried candles, their dads swigged cans of beer – and they travelled hundreds of kilometers just to see … Continue reading<\/a>Queen of the Outback<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1776,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions\/1776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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