Nicole Kidman is in Austraila for her wedding to Keith Urban, where she spent most of yesterday a virtual prisoner in her multimillion-dollar Darling Point mansion before making a break for it, by limousine, for her little sister's place.

For the first time, the couple has confirmed the nation's worst-kept secret, issuing a statement through a spokeswoman, Wendy Day: "We are very happy to be back in Australia. We have come home to celebrate our wedding with our family and friends."

To attempt to soothe savage beast...Keith & Nicole used a very Australian gift to soothe the paparazzi camped outside her Sydney home on Tuesday ahead of their expected weekend wedding -- a case of cold beer. .
After staking out Kidman's harbourside Sydney house for most of the day, some 20 photographers heard her garage door start to rise and quickly armed themselves with motor-drive cameras. But instead of a shot of the bride and groom before the wedding day, the paparazzi were met by two women carrying a case of beer and water bottles. Written on the case of 24 bottles of "Victoria Bitter" beer was a note: "Enjoy!, Nicole and Keith."

And it seemed the gesture worked, at least temporarily, with the paparazzi thanking their host and enjoying the beer -- a universal greeting of friendship in Australia. Earlier in the day the paparazzi sent Kidman flowers to celebrate her 39th birthday on Tuesday and sang her happy birthday via a gate intercom. Kidman emerged smiling. Asked what she planned for her birthday, she replied: "Not much, dinner at home with mum ... boring. Thank you for the flowers and the singing."