Chapter 5

That January was full-on. We recorded shows in Narooma, Bermagui, Bega, Merimbula, Eden, Bombala and Cooma. We had to stop at Batemans Bay to re-record me leaving, as we now had another town next.

We met the ABC reporter, got introduced to various town celebrities, did nice, gentle talks on patios or among flowers, and the first three towns flew by. Merimbula was going to be different. We were there on Paulines’ birthday, with the trip being carefully timed. Randall would be coming down the coast for her birthday dinner and driving back the next day.

Our morning interview was with an Australian ex-Wiggle, who Pauline had seen on TV when she was a toddler. Not one of the original line-up, but a very popular one anyway. Ashley gave me the usual make-up and then sat Pauline down to make her look sixteen. She sat beside me as I talked to the third girl to be a Wiggle and couldn’t contain herself. At the end of my list, I waved to Pauline.

“I’m sure you have some questions.”

Did she ever! She had a lot of questions that she, and her school friends, had obviously talked about. In the end, the girl stood up and held out her hand.

“Come on Pauline. You can’t leave without doing my dance with me.”

She bent down and pressed play on the CD player and the iconic music started. I sat back as my daughter had the moves down pat. They danced to the music for five minutes and, when it finished, Pauline was given a big hug. I thanked the girl and was told that it had been a lot of fun. Matthew was happy, as we had it all in the can. Back in the car, I drove to where we were having lunch. The bus was going to take a detour to our afternoon interview first to drop some things off. Pauline was still hyper as I took my time.

“Mummy, that was the best birthday present ever!”

“I’m glad that you had fun, my girl. You had that dance so perfect; you could have been a Wiggle.”

“I wish that my friends could have seen me.”

“Careful what you wish for, my daughter. We do have it all filmed. You never know, Matthew may include that in the show.”

“What! Me on television. They wouldn’t do that, would they. It’s your show.”

“Actually, Matthew has told me that they’re renaming the show as ‘Cruising with Carol and Pauline’.”

“You’re winding me up!”

“We’ll see. Here we are at the hotel. Let’s take our bags in and get our room. After that workout, you need a shower before lunch.”

“But that will wash all the make-up off!”

“I’ll ask Ashley to redo it this afternoon.”

We freshened up and I helped her remove the TV make-up, then helped her reapply some afterwards for lunch. It looked like she would be going to high school looking like a teenager.

After lunch, we had just the one more interview. She had been a finalist on one of the talent shows a couple of years ago and had a few chart hits. I knew that Pauline knew most of her songs and had phoned the girl before we had started the trip. Once again, Ashley did the magic on my face and then Pauline, then added some powder to the singer. The conversation took place in her recording studio, with us just sitting in easy chairs. I did my part and then smiled at Pauline.

“Your turn.”

Once again, there was a lot of things that she, as a fan, wanted to know. The answers were given with a smile, and the odd wink in my direction. In the end, the girl looked at Pauline.

“You have great insight, my girl. A little birdie told me that you play a mean guitar. Do you know ‘Heavy Heart’?”

Pauline nodded.

“Beside you, there is a guitar case. I’ve got my old faithful here. Why don’t you pick that guitar up and join me playing it?”

Pauline picked up the guitar and sat it on her lap to play a chord to check the tuning.

The singer grinned.

“You play the rhythm and I’ll fill in the twiddly bits. Let’s go.”

Once again, I just sat back in wonder as the two played the song that had been top of the charts. Pauline was solid with the rhythm and joined in on the chorus. At the end, she put the guitar back in its case and they both stood to hug.

“Thank you. That was wonderful. That guitar is beautiful.”

“That’s yours, Pauline.”

“That’s very generous, I couldn’t take it from you.”

“It was never mine, sweet girl. Your mother supplied it for today. I believe that it’s what you asked for as a birthday present.”

Pauline squealed and gave me a huge hug.

“Thank you, Mummy. This has been the best day of my whole life!”

The birthday dinner was in the best restaurant in town. Randall had arrived and the party also included the crew, the ABC reporter and the two celebrities. The guitar was ritually signed by the singer and the Wiggle, with a lot of pictures taken. We all sung ‘Happy Birthday’ and had too much cake. Pauline faded fast after that, so I took her up to her room and helped her cleanse and get into bed. She was asleep before I pulled the sheet over her. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and put the light out as I left the room.

I went back down to where things had quietened down. We all sat around and talked. Both celebrities told us that Pauline was a natural entertainer and were surprised when I told them that this had been only her eleventh birthday. When we had talked our fill, the celebrities went home, and the crew went upstairs. Randall and I sat with some hot chocolate before we retired. He laughed.

“Big day for our girl. I gather she liked the guitar.”

“Oh yes. Wait until we sort out todays show. You’ll see Pauline as you’ve never seen her before. She was magnificent, good enough to get a bit of time on the show.”

“That good!”

“Yep! The show is now ‘Cruising with Carol and Pauline’. All that needs to happen now will be her getting paid.”

We retired to our room and gave each other a present of our own.

In the morning, Matthew stood up and presented Pauline with another gift. It was her very own official ABC badge. When we recorded the leaving for the next town scene, Pauline was positioned on the other side of the car, instead of sitting in it. I did my bit about moving on to Eden, she now had a line to say.

“Come on, Mummy, we’ve got work to do.”

I saw Randall smile as he got into his car to go north, while I got into mine to head south. We were two days in Eden, with four interviews set up. Pauline now sat in on most of them, with a chance for her own questions. After that, we had a whole day set aside to go inland to Bombala, where we had one of the techno-pop stars that Pauline loved, which took up a lot of time as they discussed things that were over my head. He laughed when she told him about her amplifier and the fart in Lesley. Two days later, we were in Cooma for the last shows. We signed off the series in Cooma, now having ten shows to produce.

The crew backtracked the roads we had come on, with Matthew wanting to get general scenic shots to fill in any time. Pauline and I headed north to Canberra, with the guitar case on the back seat, where she wanted to spend some time in the National Gallery. Two days later, we were on the hilly road down to Batemans Bay and then back home, with just four days rest before the first day of school.

At the end of February, I joined the crew in Canberra to interview the PM and Minister of Defence. It was a thank you for our actions last year. The PM showed us a prerecorded announcement, then gave us twenty-four hours to work up our questions. The announcement was, for me, vindication on what I had been pushing. The Government was going to use five oil tankers, now all moored and unused. They would all be taken to docks around the country where they would be modified as armed drone carriers. Each one would carry four thousand drones and able to launch fifteen at a time. They would also carry sea drones, as perfected by Ukraine. There would be workshops, drone control rooms and new crew quarters. A new drone factory would be set up in Adelaide and each ship would moor at the Navy Dockyard on the Port River to be finished and loaded at the underused AUKUS facility. The timing would be around four years per ship, with them coming into service a year apart. This time, we were making a statement of intent, without resorting to American input.

The next day, we recorded a long interview with both the PM and the Minister. The announcement was to be sent to the media in the afternoon of the Thursday, with us able to show the interview that evening.

In April, we had the Minister of Transport in our Ultimo studio, announcing that the winning bid to build an international terminal at Nowra was Virgin Australia, who would be providing direct flights from Nowra to all the capital cities, as well as New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It would be set up so that we could fly internationally after going through emigration in Nowra, using the other airlines that were partners with Virgin. The building would be starting within a few weeks and be between the existing terminal and the Braidwood Road, with new taxiways to be laid. Back home, I passed that information on to Randall, so the police could get a start before the official notification.

Bernie had become a regular guest at our BBQ parties, and his wife would bring cakes, as she was an excellent baker. We would often sit around, talking about idea for shows. One day, he was suddenly serious.

“You do know, Carol, that you’ve presented the ABC with a dilemma. The news items that you’ve exposed has put you in line to be a serious reporter. On the other hand, the ‘Cruising’ series, when it gets to air, is going to show you and Pauline as interviewing entertainers. Matthew has told me that he has the series nearly ready to show us. I believe that we’ll be invited to Sydney to watch all ten shows with the ‘light entertainment’ crowd. That’s likely to be five shows in the morning and five in the afternoon.”

“That will be something almost too odd. I can hardly believe that I’m watching me on the short pieces I’ve done. Will I be able to bring Pauline?”

“I expect so. She is one of the standouts of almost half the shows, after all.”

We looked over to where she was sitting, guitar in her lap, with a bunch of her school friends singing pop songs.

“I see what you mean.”

“You wouldn’t have seen it the way I did. Through the lens, she sparkled. It’s been years since that Wiggle has been on the stage, and just that dance segment alone is going to get a lot of response from girls who are now teenage or young women. I expect that the show with the two of them will be up for an award.”

“Her discussion with the techno-pop guy was well over my head. I expect that a lot of teens will understand, but she surprised me with her depth of knowledge.”

“Expect to have to share those shows with her. You got all the folksy stuff, but she provided the high-value entertainment. I hear that she’s doing well in her first year in high school.”

“What would you expect. She’s brainy, talented, and the trip south gave her confidence beyond her years. From what her friends have said to their mothers, she’s the queen of first form. That will only be enhanced when the show hits the screens.”

That week, I had an email to attend a special meeting in Ultimo, on the Saturday, and to bring Pauline. I rang the airline and booked three tickets, as I wanted Randall to see for himself what our daughter had done. We all dressed semi-casually, with Pauline and I with our ABC badges on. When we got out of the taxi, Hugo was waiting for us.

“Good morning Carol, and family. I’m glad you could all make it. The rest of the crowd are heading for the viewing.”

He held his hand out to shake with Randall, and then gripped Paulines’ hand.

“I’ve had a look at some of the shows, and you, young lady, will be a star, one day.”

He led us up to the viewing room, where we were all introduced to the group that organised the ‘light entertainment’. My crew and Emily were there, and we all chatted until Sir Edward came in. He clapped his hands.

“All right everybody. Get seated and let’s watch these shows. Two and a half hours this morning with discussion in between, then lunch in the executive dining room and the rest in the afternoon.”

We all sat in the comfortable seats and the lights went down. The screen lit up with me standing by my GT and I did the intro. There was a short segment of the road in front, with the GT in shot, which had been taken from the bus. Then we were into meeting the ABC rep for the first town, followed by two fireside chats with the well-known people, with shots of Pauline interacting with other children. Randall was gripping my hand as it was showing, and Pauline was gripping the other one, so I couldn’t even scratch my nose.

There was discussion afterwards, mainly that it was wholesome family entertainment and eminently suitable for the ABC demographic. The second show followed in much the same vein, so setting the tone of the series. We finished the morning session with Bega, and there was some praise that the show would be worthy of a promotion, and a possible DVD set for sale.

We had lunch, and both Emily and Sir Edward sat with the three of us and Matthew. We had a nice talk and Sir Edward joked that he had seen the next show, which would blow everyones’ minds.

That afternoon, the first one was Merimbula, which did, indeed, blow their minds. With the two chats, my part was interesting, while Paulines’ was electric. Although she had been seen, often, in previous shows, this one was an eye-opener. There was much discussion after that. The last four shows had more Pauline and the talk with the techno guy was shortened a bit but was still interesting. Sitting quietly, I could follow it better this time. It was a good job that I didn’t have to scratch my head, as both hands were again firmly grasped.

After the last shot, the discussion was centred about organising another series for next year, with more musical celebrities and the format slightly changed so that Pauline and I shared the interviews and to just see where they went. The boss of the ‘light entertainment’ was sure that whoever we visited would want to perform for us, after seeing this series. He was sure that we would have twenty wanting to be visited before we went back on the road.

As the crowd broke up, there was much back-slapping and cheek-kissing. The three of us ended up in Sir Edwards’ office with Emily and Hugo. Edward smiled.

“I’m sure that you know that you’ve given us a dilemma, Carol. We had you down as a local reporter and then you gave us a series of news items that put us in front of the commercials for the first time in many years. Now, you’ve given us a good family series, along with introducing Pauline to our viewers as a very talented girl.”

“I’m sorry, sir, it just happened.”

“With you, Carol, a lot of things ‘just happen’. Now, onto serious matters. Pauline, you continue to wear that badge with pride. As of today, you are a contractor for the ABC. We can’t pay you, directly, but have already set up a sole trader company for you, called ‘Pauline Chivers Entertainment’, with your parents as responsible adults. We will deposit payment for those shows into a bank account that your parents will set up, to be held in trust until you’re of age. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“It does have a second agenda, as it will position you as an ABC person, which may lead to other things as you get older.”

“Wow! Thank you, sir.”

“Carol. You have some more work to do as a news reporter. The Minister of Defense wants to escort you on a tour of military bases, with your crew, to report on our up-to-date capabilities. There will be visits to warships at sea, trips in tanks, and flights in fast jets. Matthew will be provided with all the small cameras and audio recorders that you’ll be wearing. It will be a government advertising campaign with an informational twist. You won’t get to film everything, but enough to prove that we mean business. It will also include a trip to Europe to look at the new Eurofighter, with the show, I think, being the official announcement of our purchase of them. I haven’t been given the itinerary yet, but your wife is going to be away from home in chunks, Randall. Will that be a problem?”

“It shouldn’t be, Sir Edward. Most of the trips in this country would only be a week at a time. If the Minister can arrange the trip to Europe for our summer break, Pauline and I could join Carol for the flight.”

“We can get her ‘Cruising’ shows recorded in November and February, so that can be possible, even if we do two shows in a weekend. I’ll talk to the Minister to co-ordinate the two different series to fit that timetable. You do realise that this is going to take up much of the next couple of years, as things at this level move slowly. Thank you all for your input. Randall, you may be contacted through the police to be seconded to Government Security as a bodyguard with the Minister as this is happening, so you may have to find somewhere for Pauline to stay while you’re both away.”

Pauline grinned.

“I have about a dozen places who will be more than happy for me to stay with them, sir. After those shows go to air, that may even double.”

We all had a laugh and the meeting wound up. I was given a set of DVDs of the series and then Hugo escorted us down to the foyer, where a car was waiting outside with a driver.

“This is the level that you’ve reached, Carol. Whenever you come to visit us, let me know the flight and there’ll be a car at the airport.”

“Thank you, Hugo.”

We got in the car and were driven to the airport, in plenty of time for our trip home. We introduced ourselves to the driver and he gave us his card, telling us that he would be available as my driver, if needed. That made me think!

Back at Nowra, we went to a restaurant in town before going home. When I opened up my computer, I saw some emails from the crew, telling me that they were very happy with the shows, and the outcome. I answered them all to congratulate them on jobs well done. With Bernie, I told him that I would be dropping into the shop on Monday.

On Sunday, there was only one thing to be done. Pauline had invited all her friends and parents to our home for a BBQ. It was lucky that I had enough in the freezer to pull out and thaw overnight. Sunday lunch, we had a dozen girls and a couple of boys on the patio, along with about twenty parents. The BBQ was going full blast, with Randall and a couple of fathers looking after it. We had space for a big screen set up on the outside wall, with a power supply, so I had set it up in the morning.

The TV had a disc slot and good sound, so when I turned it on after everyone had eaten, they looked at me.

“Friends. Today, you are going to see a little bit of what is going to be on the ABC this winter. I won’t bore you with most of the shows, but there are two that we want to show you. I have a small part to play in them.

I had slid the DVD with the techno-pop guy ending it, and everyone was watching intently as the first half ran through, perking up when the last part started with Pauline looking like a teenager beside me. When the credits rolled, there was polite applause from the parents as Pauline was hugged and kissed. Somewhat seriously by one of the boys, I noticed.

I put the second disc in as they all quietened down.

“This is another show that we did. The day was Paulines’ birthday, when she was given that guitar that she plays so well. She does appear in both the interviews.”

I started the show and looked at the faces around me as it progressed. When I spoke to the girl Wiggle, there were smiles, and when Pauline ended the interview dancing with her, there were squeals from her friends. I had to pause the disc until they had quietened down. The second interview and the duet caused a riot. If Pauline had been the queen of first year, she was now the Empress.

The party continued with her playing her signed guitar, with all her friends singing along and us adults talking among ourselves. I was able to lay some groundwork with some of the mothers to let Pauline stay with them in the future, as both Randall and I may be away for some days at a time. They all told me that it would be a pleasure as she was such a charming and polite girl.

On Monday, I went to see Bernie. He had been sent an email from Matthew to allow him to put together some equipment for our shows with the Minister. He grinned.

“Carol. You’ll be happy to know that the first few shows are going to be local. We will be going to Albatross and looking at some of the things that are going on there. One will appeal to the tomboy in you. We’re going to do a show about the Navy Helicopter Search and Rescue based there. I expect that you’ll be winched up from a boat at some stage.”

“You have to be kidding!”

“No. The Minister obviously wants you to experience it all. We’ll be two weeks at HMAS Creswell, with you being shown what it takes to be a female officer in todays’ navy. I expect that the Commodore will host a dinner with some of his fellow officers to thank you for forcing the government into that plan with the tankers. They may not be carriers, but every one of them will be bigger than anything in service.”

“That will be interesting. Is there anything else?”

“That one will be fun. I’ve always wanted to learn how to skydive. You’re slated to do the Parachute Training course.”

Marianne Gregory © 2026