ADA NICODEMOU A BRIDGE TOO FAR

Ada Nicodemou took to acting like a duck to water, starring in her first television series, Heartbreak High, aged 16. But her life behind the wheel got off to a shakier start.

A busy filming schedule meant she had a very small window of opportunity to get her Pplates. “I had two weeks to learn how to drive and get my licence,” she says.

Having passed the test, she says she wasn’t properly prepared for Sydney traffic.

“I was a very anxious driver to begin with and if I knew I had to turn up ahead I’d allow 10 minutes to prepare for it,” she says.

Sydney’s Harbour Bridge initially proved too daunting and she had to rely on a fellow cast member to navigate the landmark. “Initially he was driving my car over the bridge, then he would sit in the passenger seat and help me through the big scary bridge drive. After a year, he just said, ‘Enough’s enough,’ ” she says.

“It’s funny to think how nervous I was as a driver considering how much driving I do now and how comfortable I am in a car.”

She’s had plenty of time behind the wheel, often spending up to four hours travelling to the set of Australia’s long-running soapie, Home And Away, where she’s starred for 18 years.

The commute is a good time to catch up with phone calls and unwind after filming.

“My car’s my office. I like to do all of my phone calls to and from work so that when I get home I’m available to hang out with my son,” she says.

These days she makes the journey in a Porsche Macan, thanks to a sponsorship deal with the Porsche Centre Willoughby.

The sporty German SUV is a far cry from her first car, a Mitsubishi Magna.

“It was a very sensible family car for a young girl but Mum wanted me to have something safe for the drive,” she says.

It eventually made way for a Mirage, which was easier to manoeuvre.

“I was the world’s worst parker. The Magna was quite big but the Mirage was awesome. It was zippy and you could park it anywhere. I loved that car,” she says.

There was a catch, though: “I bought it second-hand and they had massive sub-woofers in the back. It had this crazy sound system that used to do my head in. I had to get rid of it because I was getting headaches, it was so loud.”

Her taste in cars has changed over the years. Initially, a car was very much an A-to-B proposition but now she’s more emotionally attached to her set of wheels.

“When I was younger, I was a typical Greek girl. For me it was more important to save a deposit for a house. Spending too much money on a car wasn’t that important to me,” she says.

That changed when she had a child on the way and wanted something newer and safer. Before the Macan, she had an Audi.

She loves the way the Macan drives yet her favourite feature is a simple one; keyless entry.

“I’m a mum and a woman with a big handbag and you’re always searching for your key. To be able to have your key in the bottom of the bag while you’re holding shopping and trying to wrangle a child, it just makes things so much easier,” she says.