There will be no log fires, reindeer jumpers or steaming Christmas dinner for Barrow midwife Danielle Gudger this year. She’ll be sunning 
herself on a beach in Sydney in a bikini and a Santa hat.

Danielle moved to Australia in June on a two-year career break from Leicester Royal Infirmary and she’s been lapping up the sunshine and the lifestyle ever since.

It will be her first hot Christmas, when the temperature will hit the high 30s, and while she and a group of friends will be eating turkey, and all the trimmings, it will be a cold lunch, picnic style - with Factor 50 on the side! “It will be very different from a UK Christmas and I am excited about it,” she said in a phone interview from - you guessed it - the beach.

Danielle, who grew up in Barrow and worked as a midwife at Leicester Royal Infirmary, is now enjoying working in Sydney, as an agency midwife at a few hospitals. The work is similar to that in the UK in many respects, but she is also learning the workings of the large private health care system. Midwifery is my dream vocation, she says. “It’s not just about delivering babies, as many people may think. It’s about allowing the women to be given the best care at every stage of their pregnancy and birth.”

Although Sydney was in lockdown for the first three months after her arrival, she went to work as normal and made friends, socialising as restrictions permitted. Restrictions have eased and hospitality is open. She has joined a dance school, doing ballet, tap and jazz, and has a show coming up in December. In Barrow, she loved to sing and act (her Mary Poppins video in lockdown was a hit on social media) and she performed in the 
Barrow Youth Theatre and Panto group. An active member of Barrow Baptist Church, she has found a church in Sydney that she likes, meeting online initially, but is now attending in person.

Danielle is the daughter of Matthew and Sharon Gudger, owners of Taylor’s Florist in Barrow High Street. A close-knit family, with brother Zach and Nana Ida, she keeps in touch with plenty of video calls and messaging. And when she calls them, she’s not saying “G’Day” … just yet. “I’m still learning the lingo and quite often get confused. I have learned that ‘Hey, how are you going?’ means ‘Hello’.”

 No worries, Danielle!

Lindsay Ord