A veterinary nurse and a sustainability co-ordinator are headed for the Sydney Royal Show to represent Zone 2 in the Showgirl finals.
Hawkesbury Showgirl Olivia Leal-Walker, 23, and Nowra Showgirl Liberty Nelson, 23, will be headed to Homebush in April to represent their districts in the final of The Land Sydney Royal Showgirl competition.
Miss Nelson, a ranger and animal management officer with Shoalhaven City Council since 2015, is a qualified veterinary nurse and prior to commencing her current job worked for two and a half years at a local veterinary hospital.
In 2015 she moved to Meroo Meadow and established Wiggly Pig Farm.
She is also a member of the Country Womens Association following followed in the footsteps of her grandmother.
Miss Nelson believes communities have a lot to gain from being able to share and grow food.
Miss Leal-Walker, is a sustainability co-ordinator at Frasers Property Australia and has completed a bachelor of science majoring in biology and environmental earth science at Macquarie University.
She volunteered for the Hawkesbury Bush Care, and is a member of the Hawkesbury Council run sustainability council. She is a facilitator for the Living Building Challenge Collaborative and chair of the Future Green Leaders Advisory Committee.
Miss Leal-Walker has a passion for chickens which she has shown at many shows and also helps out with the family farm, especially around calving time.
She is passionate about preserving prime agricultural land and sees the showgirl competition as a life changing experience and a powerful opportunity to be a voice for important rural issues within the Hawkesbury Show Society and her wider community and NSW.
The Zone 2 finals were hosted by the Berry Show Society, and the judges were Agricultural Societies Councils David Williams, former Showgirl Prue Neely and The Land advertising manager Matt De La Hunty.
The Zone 2 finalists were:
- Olivia Leal-Walker (Hawkesbury)
- Liberty Nelson (Nowra)
- Lainie Maree Andreson (Milton)
- Rachael Honeysett (Berry)
- Jessica Joanne Winning (Frenchs Forest)
- Felicity Jayne Lavender (St Ives)
- Jasmin Gardner (Picton)
- Tess Madeley (Camden)
- Jessica Fox (Dapto)
- Ebony Wills (Albion Park)
- Stephanie Panecasio (Kiama)