Ultimate rush for crowd

THREE Lockyer Valley teens have met one of the best actors to come out of this country during his visit to his home town of Toowoomba last week.

Geoffrey Rush was in Toowoomba for the Australian of the Year Tour of Honour, making a stop for a question and answer segment with an audience at the Empire Theatre.

Invited to meet the great Australian were Deanna Steffans, Mitch Wood and Carly Poole.

The trio got a great thrill from the honour, making the most of their time with the award winning actor.

"He was such a nice person," 15-year-old Carly Poole said.

"I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to perform for the Australian of the Year twice, once at each function.

"It was quite unreal going from never seeing him to having him right in front of me.

"I was thinking 'am I really seeing him?'"

She took the time to get a ukulele signed by the Australian of the Year.

"I thought that would be so much better than a piece of paper," she said.

"He spoke to us about the Empire and about youth arts and I was really thankful and impressed by that.

"It was great for those of us trying to break through from rural areas.

"It was inspiring because he actually comes from Toowoomba and has gone on to be so successful."