THE last three-and-a-half years have been quite “an awfully big adventure” for Sunshine Girl Romelda Aiken.

The youngest member of the Jamaica team and one of the youngest at the 2007 World Netball Championships (WNC) in Auckland, New Zealand, Aiken’s outstanding performance led her to a contract in the fledgling ANZ Championships and a new life in a new continent — Australia.

From cows and chickens to kangaroos and koalas; from a home in Clarendon to a home in Queensland.

The six-foot-plus tall goal shooter has come a long way and it is quite obvious that today she is a more rounded girl than she was four years ago as an 18-year-old.

This season, Aiken helped her trans-Tasman semi-professional league team, the Queensland Firebirds, to their first Championship title, but she told the Observer the first year away was quite difficult.

“I was really homesick, but then I just worked my way into it. Playing for the last four years in Australia, it’s been a good experience and it’s good to know that I can go there and come back and show what I’ve learnt,” she said.

Aiken said she missed the food, family, and friends.

“(But) if you want to get there, there’re certain things you have to give up and certain things you have to give in to.”

She tasted the kangaroo in Australia but does not seem to have enjoyed it.

“It’s too hard. It’s a tough piece of meat,” she said.

In a country where people of her race are a minority, Aiken said she has been fortunate not to have experienced any discrimination.

“We meet people here and there and they love the colour of our skin and our hair, so it’s a good experience. I look forward to something different every time I go there.”

The Firebirds depend on Aiken and she was an integral part of the victory in 2011.

“We had a serious set goal and we just stuck to it throughout the year and it just made us successful,” she shared.

“Playing in the Championships, I’m not going to say it’s overly hard, but at times you just get frustrated and you want to go home. Winning is like a bonus,” she added.

Aiken said the thought of a different experience was what drew her to grab the opportunity in Australia.

“I wanted to challenge myself to do something different. I always wanted to challenge myself to go somewhere far away just to see what it’s like.

“I didn’t know where I was going, what I was getting myself into, but it was worth it,” she said.

Her new foray has brought her fame, and her height, prowess and complexion all make her standout.

“Everywhere I go it’s like, ‘hey that’s Romelda Aiken.’ Sometimes I just want to go somewhere where nobody knows who I am,” she explained.

After this year’s WNC in Singapore, Aiken said she plans to return to Brisbane where she now lives with her boyfriend, Joel.

“I just want to take a break from netball,” she said.

However, her decision to keep her life in Australia instead of coming back to Jamaica also has a lot to do with the opportunities available there.

“There are more opportunities in my area. It’s easier to get something to do there than here, so I choose to stay.”

She concluded: “I just go along with my life because I’m the one living it. Any mistakes, I’m the one facing the consequences.”