When Marcia Hines moved to the other side of the world for work as a teenager, it could have been to anywhere.
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The US-born Australian musical treasure, now 70, says she didn't know a thing about the nation that would ultimately become her forever home.
"I thought I was coming to Austria!" she quips.
"I grew up in New England in the United States in the '60s when we weren't told about Australia.
"I might have known a campfire song like Waltzing Matilda!"
Having moved from Boston, Massachusetts, to Sydney at 16 to star in the Australian production of Hair, Hines recalled a very different country in 1970.
She says the shops closed early on weekdays and shut on weekends.
"Everything was closed," Hines says.
"Where I came from you could buy a suit at 2.30 in the morning; in Sydney the butchers were closed early, the shops were closed early.
"I remember getting into a taxi and the driver saying: 'She'll be apples!'
"I thought: 'He's crazy, I shouldn't have got into that taxi!'"
Having planned to stay in Australia only six months, Hines fell in love with the country and the lingo that seemed so foreign at the start.
Her guardian stayed with her until she was 21.
"I learnt in Australia if people insult you, they like you," she laughs.
"Obviously once you work that out, you too become the person that does that!
"I have adopted Australia as my home and Australia has adopted me."
To this day, Hines remains an inspiration to Australians everywhere, constantly re-inventing herself and setting industry benchmarks; being the first black woman to star in Jesus Christ Superstar and advocating endlessly for diabetes.
Twenty-one years ago she became Australian Idol's favourite judge for the show's seven consecutive years.
She says it was a learning experience for her too.
"If you're going to preach, then you should practise what you preach," Hines says.
"At first I found it difficult to judge other people; the reason I am who I am today is because of the people who brought out the best of me in my youth.
"They were encouraging and patient."
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In 2004 Hines released an album of cover versions, titled Hinesight - Songs from the Journey and the next year she released a remixed version of her hit You, followed in 2006 by Discotheque, an album of her versions of disco classics.
Hines was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007.
She received the Order of Australia (AM) in 2009 for her services to the Australian entertainment industry as a performer, judge and mentor, and to the community through a range of charitable organisations.
Hines says her daughter, Deni, born in 1970, is her greatest blessing.
Her mother Esme relocated to Australia during the 1980s, when the small family enjoyed multi-generational living.
"My mother was a gardener," she says.
"As a kid we grew up with veggies grown by my mother.
"I always made sure we had a house that had a garden.
"Even now, I will get up at 4.30am or 5am and go to the flower market (in Sydney).
"I like growing things but I kill plants too!
"But I have always liked playing in dirt."
Hines will wind up her national tour of capital cities and regional centres - including Albury Entertainment Centre on Saturday, November 11 - before the end of the year.
"I've seen almost as much of Australia as the Leyland Brothers!" she said.
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