IF you need proof they breed them tough in the bush, take a look at Queensland's oldest resident Evelyn Vigor who turns 109 today.
Born six weeks premature on a lucerne farm near Laidley in 1906, Ms Vigor was wrapped in cotton wool and placed in a box before the doctor told her parents to "hope for the best".
Smaller than the size of her father's palm, Ms Vigor went on to surprise the doctor and her family.
"Who would’ve thought we'd be celebrating such a significant birthday," her granddaughter Amanda Schultz said at the celebrations held in Ms Vigor's current home at Carinity Aged Care in Brisbane.
"It's that same fighting spirit that brings us here today."
Ms Vigor's birthday celebrations began with a Skype call on an iPad to her only surviving sibling, Walter - who turns 100 today.
After, she celebrated as most do, smiling as family and friends sung Happy Birthday before cutting a very large cake to mark her milestone.
"Grandma connects with people and has always had friends of many ages"
As a young woman, Ms Vigor was a champion horse rider and won a number of equestrian events and was still riding until her mid-eighties.
After a stint working as a seamstress in Woolloongabba and on the telephone exchange for Papua New Guinea, she was soon to return to her country roots.
An outing to the Brisbane Ekka saw her meet her husband of 50 years, James Vigor, after he returned from World War I.
The couple made a life together as dairy farmers 30 kilometres from Kingaroy, before retiring in Brisbane.
Now a widow, Ms Vigor has survived two fractured hips, breast cancer at age 102 and has also outlived her three children.
She has 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren, with another one on the way.
Ms Vigor's granddaughter Amanda Schultz described her as "timeless".
"Grandma connects with people and has always had friends of many ages," Ms Schultz said.
"She currently has a 12-year-old pen pal who lives in Mount Isa."
Qld's oldest voter picks LNP
WHEN Queensland goes to the ballot box on January 31, our most experienced voter will be giving the LNP her support.
Ms Vigor's interest in politics is not waning despite her age, according to her eldest granddaughter Jenny Noble.
A former Taroom business owner and resident for 25 years, Mrs Noble joined her grandmother to celebrate her birthday today.
"It doesn’t matter whether you're a man or a woman, it just depends if you've got any brains or not"
"At the last federal election she got us to buy her a new set of headphones for the radio to listen to all the talkback programs, so she is still very political," Mrs Noble said.
She said her grandmother believed there was good and bad in every political party, but was a "very strong Nationals supporter."
"When I turned 18 we went to vote and as we were walking home grandma turned to me and said 'who did you vote for?'
"I said 'I'm not telling you grandma'.
"She said 'well if you didn’t vote National you're not getting any dinner'."
When Queensland Country Life asked Ms Viger her opinion on women in politics she said it is quality not gender that counts.
"It doesn’t matter whether you're a man or a woman, it just depends if you've got any brains or not," she said.