Oprah in Australia: Ultimate Wildest Dreams

Since Oprah and her Ultimate Viewers landed Down Under, they have flown over the crystal blue waters of the Great Barrier Reef, watched the sun set at Uluru and climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. "After being here for a week, this I know for sure," Oprah says. "I love Australia!"

Now, Oprah and her 302 guests make their way to the world-renowned Sydney Opera House, which is packed with 6,000 audience members from Australia and beyond. "I don't think there is a more beautiful stage on earth than the world famous opera house surrounded by Sydney's majestic harbor," she says.

Just one day before, Oprah and her Ultimate Viewers were sailing the Sydney Harbor with a famous Australian as their first mate: Oscar®-winning actor Russell Crowe!

Although he travels the globe, Russell says the only place he calls home is Australia. "The key about Sydney is being relaxed about everything," Russell says. "It's about connecting with the water of the harbor, connecting with the beaches. When you live in a city like this, it's not hard to be friendly."

Joining Russell are the National Rugby League's South Sydney Rabbitohs in their signature red and green jerseys. "I was a fan of the team from a very young age," Russell says.

Russell is now the co-owner of the Rabbitohs and hopes the team will inspire a new generation of children in the South Sydney District. "I know that there's something of the fact that South Sydney was a winning team when I was a kid that stayed with me," he says. "Sports should be about inspiring kids."

Photo: Getty Images

Steve Irwin, the Australian television star known as the "Crocodile Hunter," tangled with snakes, swam with the sharks and wrestled with crocs. The Aussie's wild adventures and his catchphrase "Crikey!" was loved by 500 million viewers in more than 100 countries.

Then, in 2006, tragedy struck the wildlife warrior. While filming a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef, Steve was struck and killed by a stingray. This 44-year-old conservationist left behind his wife, Terri, two young children, Bindi and Robert, and a lasting legacy at the Australia Zoo.

At his memorial, Steve's daughter Bindi made a promise. "I had the best daddy in the whole world, and I will miss him every day," she said. "When I see a crocodile, I will always think of him and I know that daddy made this zoo so everyone could come and learn to love all the animals. Daddy made this place his whole life. Now it's our turn to help daddy."

Bindi is now 12 years old and joins her younger brother, Robert, and mother, Terri, on stage—along with a few friends, of course! "This is a little olive python," Bindi says. "The olive python is the second largest snake in Australia. She's just gorgeous."

The Irwin family still runs the Australia Zoo, which spans 1,500 acres. "We literally live in the middle of the zoo," Bindi says. "It's fantastic. Every day's a new adventure."

Seven-year-old Robert has brought a friend from home, as well. "He's called a Woma," Robert says. "Their Latin name is aspidites ramsayi."

To keep the memory of his father alive, Robert says he watches tapes of The Crocodile Hunter every day. "It's so good because it's like he's actually there, and he was the best dad ever," Robert says.

Terri says their loss is still hard. "I think living with Steve was like standing in a cyclone," she says. "It was 'Cyclone Steve' with that passion and enthusiasm, and [we were] just trying to keep up every day. Then when we lost him, it was just like the wind stopped."

Instead of shutting down after Steve's death, Terri says the family has kept his conservation efforts alive with The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula. "Not only have we continued, we've just gotten bigger and better," she says.

Before Oprah landed Down Under, Polly Dunning wrote to The Oprah Show about her students at the Canterbury Boys High School in Sydney's Inner West. When Oprah heard their story, she set out to give Polly and her students a surprise they'll never forget.

With hundreds of students gathered in the school's courtyard, Ms. Dunning reads her letter aloud for The Oprah Show cameras. "The boys come from a variety of cultures and nationalities with 90 percent from a non-English speaking background. Although they are all different, we all love hip-hop music, including Jay-Z," she says. "Jay-Z has let my students see that you can come from the bottom and reach the top."

As she reads, a special guest makes his surprise appearance...triple-platinum rapper Jay-Z!

Watch the Canterbury Boys High School greet their surprise guest.

The students take Jay-Z on a tour of their school, including the music room where a few boys take the opportunity to jam with the hip-hop mogul.

Jay-Z has a heart-to-heart with these young men. "I just want to say I'm living proof of the possibility [that] anything can happen once you apply yourself," he says. "The fact that you guys are here in this school right here serves as an opportunity, so don't let that opportunity go to waste."

The students and teachers from the Canterbury Boys School are inside the Sydney Opera House as Oprah's special guests—and they're about to get another surprise.

"The team at Microsoft Australia with their partner HP is hooking you up," Oprah says. "Every single student is taking home an HP DV7, top-of-the-line powerhouse laptop, and they are giving every single teacher their very own laptop with Microsoft Office!"

In addition, HP and Microsoft are making over the school's library with 15 TouchSmart 600 computers, and the music rooms are getting an upgrade with ultra cool HP Envy Beat notebooks. "Now [there's] no excuses not to do your homework," Oprah says to the students.

While Oprah has been in Australia, she's felt the zest for living that Aussies possess. "There is something truly exceptional about the spirit of all of you here, the people of Australia," Oprah says.

Kristian Anderson and his family are a perfect example of that spirit. Their remarkable love story began more than 10 years ago when Kristian fell for Rachel in college. They married, started a family and the life they'd always dreamed of. Then, suddenly, their world came crashing down. At just 34 years old, Kristian was diagnosed with liver and bowel cancer. "The moment we found out that it was cancer, it felt like a punch in the stomach," Rachel says. "Our youngest child was 13 months old."

Kristian's doctor advised him to stop working as a television editor. To support the family, Rachel went back to teaching high school. "Now I get up early in the morning getting the boys ready, I'm off to work and I get home and it's madness," Rachel says. "I've literally got nothing left for him. There are nights when Kristian's gone to bed, and I just sit up and I cry because it's such an overwhelming situation to be in."

To thank Rachel for always standing by him, Kristian produced a video love letter for her birthday that he posted on YouTube. When Rachel saw the video love letter, she says she was amazed. "The most romantic thing I've ever seen and I cried, I cried and I cried," she says.

Today, Kristian says he's hopeful. "I just had a pretty heavy dose of radiation, and the doctors are really happy with how it's going so far," he says.

So that Kristian is able to focus every ounce of energy he has on getting well, and Rachel can focus on her family, Oprah wants to give Rachel some time off from work.

"Kristian , don't worry about the bills," Oprah says. "And the reason you shouldn't worry about the bills is because you will be getting, as of today, a check for a quarter of a million dollars."

Watch Oprah give Kristian and Rachel their $250,000 suprise!

Xbox Australia helped make this $250,000 check possible and wants to make sure the Anderson's have a year filled with fun family memories, so they're also setting the family up with a Kinect for Xbox 360.

It's an hour full of ultimate surprises, and the day isn't over yet! The legendary Bon Jovi takes the stage at the Syndey Opera House to perform two of their rock anthems.

Jon Bon Jovi has toured the world for more than a quarter of a century, but he says Australia feels like home. "It's a fabulous place and a wonderful people, and that's why we keep coming back," he says.

To cap off a great day of surprises, Oprah has one last gift for the audience.

Kailis Jewelry has created a one-of-a-kind South Sea pearl pendant with a silver O medallion specially for The Oprah Show. These precious pearls are only found off the coast of northwestern Australia, where some of the largest white pearls on earth have been discovered.

Order The Oprah Winfrey Show farewell season commemorative pearl necklace

"I believe things are always better when you share them, so all 6,000 [audience members] are going to get one of these [necklaces]," Oprah says. "Something to remember the day!"

More from Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure

The Sydney "Oprah" House