With a high-profile job anchoring the ABC's 7.30, Leigh Sales is used to bright lights and big names. But her early life was set among the burning-hot bitumen and above-ground pools of Bald Hills, Brisbane.

I grew up in Keperra and Bald Hills. In the '70s and '80s, when I was a kid, Bald Hills still felt very much like living in the country. You could see a dairy farm from the verandah of the primary school. We lived in a small three-bedroom house, until mum and dad followed that old Australian tradition and put on an extension, making it a four-bedder.

With her brother at their Keperra home in Brisbane.

In that era, your parents didn't want to see you again until it was getting dark. For fun, we used to ride our bikes around the neighbourhood, non-stop basically from the second we got up. We used to like playing cricket in the street as well. Nearly everybody had an above-ground pool - in-ground was luxury - and in summer, we barely got out of our togs all day. I still remember sore feet from running across the lawn and getting bindies, or running across the bitumen road on a hot day and getting burnt feet.

For a special night out, we would go to the Double Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant at Strathpine. That would maybe be once or twice a year. We also used to occasionally go to the drive-in at Boondall or Aspley. Mum and Dad took my brother and I to the triple Star Wars bill when Return of the Jedi came out.