She said she would have been happy with a pair of jeans.

Bothell resident Heidi Davis explained that during past tapings of her syndicated show, Oprah Winfrey has given away merchandise she likes, such as clothing. She also famously has given away cars to every audience member.

But, as has been heavily advertised, Winfrey is ending her show after this season. Not totally by chance, along with her sister, Davis was in the audience for the premier hour of that final season. She said talking with others in the audience before the taping gave her an inkling that something was up.

That something turned out to be a trip to Australia for all 300 members of the audience.

“They keep telling us it’s going to be a five-star trip… keep alluding to more surprises coming,” Davis said.

She added organizers have told her she may have to cover a few expenses on her own, but the show didn’t want anyone to be negatively impacted by being in the right place at the right time. So they are even picking up the taxes on the prize.

“The whole thing just feels so (surreal),” Davis said. “It’s just great.”

Davis’ sister, Stacy Carter, obtained tickets to that day’s show by signing up on Winfrey’s Web site as an ultimate fan. So had everyone else who had received tickets to the taping.

“When we realized that, we thought they’ve obviously coordinated this for a reason,” Davis said.

Living in Seattle, Carter had written an e-mail explaining how Winfrey had affected her life. Her sibling said Carter talked about how the show and Winfrey had taught her to say “yes” to a number of charitable activities. For example, Carter is involved with animal shelters, as well as Seattle schools. Following the e-mail, Davis said her sister went through a 20-minute interview with show producers. Eventually, she was given two reserved seats for an upcoming taping.

Davis admitted she is probably not as big a fan of Winfrey’s show as her sister.

“I’ve watched it on and off over the years,” she said.

Still, she was excited and more than happy to accompany her sister to Chicago for the show. She and Carter both were hoping they might end up seeing the first episode of Winfrey’s last season, but when they found out they were going into the second taping of the day, they assumed they were out of luck. Obviously, as things turned out, they weren’t.

Davis said most of the show consisted of Winfrey chatting with audience members about what the show meant to them.

“There were some amazing stories,” Davis said.

With about 15 minutes left in the taping, Davis said Winfrey started talking about a previous trip she had given audience members and said she wanted to do something bigger, even ruling out an excursion to New York City. That’s when confetti went off and the Australia trip was announced.

“The crowd freaked out, everybody started jumping up and down, hooting and hollering,” Davis said.

A licensed pilot, actor John Travolta, who appeared on the show for which Davis was in the audience, is supposed to be in the cockpit for the trip.

Each audience member won one spot for the 10-day excursion that happens in early December. That means Davis’ husband David won’t be making the trip. But his wife reported he is being a good sport regarding missing out.

“I think he expects me to bring him some really good souvenirs,” Heidi Davis said.

Davis said she’s been to Mexico a few times and Europe once, but has never been on anything “this big,” as she put it.

According to Davis, against pretty steep odds, two other Bothell residents are rumored to have been in the audience for the show. Winfrey’s offices did not respond to an e-mail asking about other local connections.

For her part, Davis said everyone she tells about the trip is excited for her, assuming the journey will be first-class and then some.

“Even people who aren’t fans know who she (Oprah Winfrey) is,” Davis said.