Russell Wolfe
| First name | Russell |
|---|---|
| Last name | Wolfe |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 27/11/73 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 2004 |
| Submitted by | Russell Wolfe |
Story
Olympic Glory
In 1999 I left England to embark on a backpacking trip around the world. I planned my trip so I’d arrive in Sydney just prior to the Olympic Games because I was hoping to work at the Games. I was interviewed for the job of wheeling out the winners’ podium at the main stadium. What a great job that would’ve been – but I was unsuccessful! I ended up getting a job in the ‘Fringe Sector’, where I was one of 200 people controlling vehicle access into the Olympic site at Homebush. My friends laughed at me for being a ‘car park attendant’. However, that job ultimately led to my migration to Australia.
About 2 months before the Games, my flat mate dragged me to a pub in the city where he was meeting up with some friends from the UK. At the pub I ended up chatting to a northern beaches girl called Rachel who knew one of my flat mate’s friends. After wooing her with my best John Travolta dance moves we got chatting and we found out that she was also working in the Fringe Sector at the Games. At the end of the evening we said our goodbyes and I suppose we never really expected to meet up again.
Anyway, as I reported for my first day’s work in the Fringe Sector, I got the shock of my life to learn that that same girl I’d met in the pub 2 months earlier was now my manager! Luckily, she must have been as drunk as I was that night as she couldn’t remember me trying to stop taxis driving down George Street because they didn’t have the proper Olympic accreditation! Nevertheless, during the Games we got to know each other a bit more and by the end of the Games we were going out. All her friends told her to dump me as the knew my visa was due to expire in February. Despite this, we stayed together and ended up making plans to travel round South America together.
In February 2001 I left to travel round New Zealand while Rachel stayed behind to earn some more money for our trip (she had already travelled around New Zealand). The day before I was due to meet her in Auckland, her dad told me she’d been in an accident. As it turned out, when saying goodbye to one of her friends, she was riding her friend’s horse back to the stable when the horse got spooked and took off towards one of the jumps. At the last minute the horse swerved and Rachel was thrown from the horse onto the jump, landing on her back. She was rushed to hospital and ended up in surgery because she had broken her back.
I decided to do the gentlemanly thing and not fly off to South America by myself but to return to Sydney and care for Rachel. I ended up getting a carer’s visa that allowed me to stay in Australia for a further 12 months but I wasn’t allowed to work. To help us through, Rachel’s family and friends gave us all the love, support and help you could ask for. Eventually, Rachel recovered, and we were able to travel to South America to complete our trip. We ended up living in London but after 2 years, Rachel declared that having a summer that lasted just 4 weeks and a winter that took care of the other 48 was no fit place to live! She issued me with an ultimatum to either migrate to Australia or say goodbye.
Well for me the decision was easy. I’d also had enough rain to last me a lifetime and British Rail still couldn’t handle leaves on the line so I fronted up to the Australian High Commission, put on my best Mick Dundee accent and convinced the assessor I’d seen enough Home & Away episodes to fully prepare me for life in Australia. Three months later we were at the ‘wailing gates’ of Heathrow Airport saying goodbye to family and friends, at least those that could be bothered to turn up. And yes, it was raining.
On the way to Sydney we stopped off in Nepal, where, after 2 months trekking, I went down on bended knee and asked Rachel to be my wife. Fortunately, she must have been suffering from altitude sickness as she didn’t hesitate and said yes! It’s been 3 years since that day and we’re now married, living on the fantastic northern beaches and have 1 beautiful daughter with another on the way. And to think it all started when, one cold rainy day back in Blighty, I decided to travel to Sydney to be part of the Olympic Games………..