When Quilpie nurse Liesl Fretwell isn't doing a shift at the local hospital, she's busy working on a station.
The 24-year-old was surprised to learn her sister had nominated her for Queensland Country Life's Bush Bachelor and Bachelorette Competition, which will make a long awaited return after a decade hiatus at the Bell Races on January 6.
After a few failed setups over the years, her sister believed it was up to QCL to help Liesl find a future partner.
Liesl grew up on a sheep, cattle and cropping operation at Coonabarabran, NSW and relocated to Quilpie just over two years ago when her family also had a property near Windorah.
She loves the community of Quilpie and one day hopes to have her own property somewhere.
"I really enjoy just being outside so I've picked up work on a station when I'm not nursing, just out of town," she said.
"I do love my garden, it's more a vision for when I have a house of my own, but at the moment a veggie and hobby garden.
"I enjoy pool, but I'm certainly not good at it, it's more of an event to get people to the pub."
Described as "genuine, selfless and humble", Liesl admits she is very family orientated and a future partner would have to be the same.
She isn't afraid of the 'gory' side of farm life and is said to have an "incredible work ethic".
"I would like to not be the only single one in my family but I would say I'm also pretty independent," she said.
Being involved in a public competition isn't normally Liesl's preferred way of finding love but she agreed to give it a go.
"There are not many races that we miss so we do love our races," she said.
"They (my sisters) kind of convinced me to say yes because this is a good story to tell more than anything.
"I think it's come out a lot more than I thought it was going to. I've had a friend I hadn't spoken to in six months message me in Victoria and NSW and say they saw it."
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
