hello, australia!

Dolly Diaries #15

Good morning! Rise n grind! Win the morning, win the week, etc.

I started writing this over 2 months ago and never finished it! So I’d like to formally apologise for my absence (I know I’ve been greatly missed). The other day, I called my mother (Jenny Carter AKA JC), and she answered with, to quote: “Where the fuck have you been?” Plus, I received the following email from my colleague and one of Radio 2’s big dogs:

They both hold two very important roles in my life, but they both CLOCKED my shit. Since I got back to London in January, I’ve been MIA, and that’s for no particular reason!

To catch you up on some things, on the 22nd of December 2025, I flew back to Sydney (on the exact date I left Sydney two years ago)! And let me tell you, going into it, I didn’t know what to expect. Would she love it? Hate it? Maybe I’d never want to leave!

To start with, the flight was not as bad as I expected. On the first leg, I was in the middle seat next to a sweet Irish bloke who was about to pop his Sydney cherry, and two British lads headed to the Ashes. Did I have a few wines and a sleeping pill, and end up sitting at the back on the flight attendant's seat because I felt a bit nauseous? YES. But the second leg was smooth sailing. I sat next to an Irish grandad on his way to surprise his brother, and he showed me his family photos while knocking back a good few beers. I landed on Christmas Eve, managed to leg it through security, and mum and dad were waiting for me in the 15-minute loading bay (they’re not ones for signs and balloons or waiting at arrivals).

If you’re not Australian, the following few sentences will mean NOTHING to you. I was SO excited to lie down on the concrete at Clovelly Beach for 6 hours! Sirena chilli tuna (and lots of it)! Whittaker’s coconut chocolate! Woolworths’ pre-made Asian salad! Harris Farm’s passionfruit yoghurt (it’s basically crack)! Being able to get decent coffee (nearly) everywhere, that’s not a CHAIN! Sorry, but Pret, Costa, Leon, and Blank St need to be PUT DOWN. Crows Nest shops (IYKYK)! Fresh sushi and Vietnamese rolls (from independently owned stores). Hearing Australian accents DAILY and not feeling like the odd one out. Fkn King St, Newton! Sticky, sweaty summer days, SO HOT that when I stand, there is sweat under my thighs. Sipping on a stone and wood and one fifty lashes. AND the fact that everyone wants to have a YARN (just for the sake of it).

Luckily, I got to do most of the above, and of course, catch up with my nearest and dearest. However, it was a strange feeling coming back home. No disrespect, but in the two years I’d gone, it felt like time hadn’t moved very much at all. Most of my friends were doing the same things, living in the same place, and Sydney looked pretty much the same (minus the new SXC metro station).

I do want to preface that there is NOTHING wrong with that (it’s just not for me).

I had a really interesting conversation with one of my oldest friends, Darcy, who’d also lived overseas in a million different places. Were we falling behind? Everyone in Sydney was settling down, saving for a house, getting a dog, getting married and having kids. Things I hadn’t crossed my mind in the last few years…

We spoke about the “pros” and “cons” of living overseas and moving back home, and how much has changed (or hasn’t) since we left.

The conversation with Hugh Jackman

But then HUGH JACKMAN came into my life, and it all changed.

Picture this: He’s our guest on the Radio 2 breakfast show, and I had to go downstairs to collect him. I was waiting for him in the lobby. Next thing you know, he stepped out of his car, shades on, with two publicists and a swarm of fans following him to the entrance. We shook hands (he was taller than I imagined), entered the lift, and the small talk began.

He asked me where I was from, and I replied with Sydney (already knowing exactly where he was from and what school he went to). We immediately connected over Chatswood and the Westfield there. We made it to the 8th floor, and he asked me how long I’d be in the UK. I replied, “nearly three years,” and told him that my trip in December would be the first time I’d been home in two years. He proceeds to tell me how strange he finds going home, no one really asks about your life in London and what you’ve been doing. In a lot of ways, I agreed. I told him the main reason I wanted to move was for the experienes and that I felt in my industry the pool was very small in Australia and once you reach a certain point, there’s nowhere to GO!

He turned to me and said, “Well, I don’t think you’re ready to go home yet.”

Maybe he’s right? Maybe I’m having a “moment” because I’m about to turn 30! I don’t know, but the whole rest of his interview, I couldn’t stop thinking about a) What he said and b) How much taller he was in real life.

It’s a wrap:

Lessons learnt: Don’t go MIA, stick to the G&T’s in the sky, and maybe Hugh Jackman does have a point!?

Also, she’s been thinking about starting some sort of series? And maybe calling it Dolly Discovers…

Will circle back on that asap.

Dolly x