Look out, ladies!
The southernmost single rural hunk in the annual hunt for lady love in the annual Fieldays Rural Bachelor is Glenavy sheep farmer Ross McCulloch (27), and he has a thing or two to offer the right woman.
Mr McCulloch and seven other eligible rural men are competing for a prize pack worth more than $20,000 — and the attention of the fairer sex — in the challenge-based competition this week.
Fresh off a third-place finish in a flower-arranging challenge at the group’s first stop in Pukekohe yesterday, Mr McCulloch said he might be lucky in love in his trip around the North Island if he comes across a "bird" with an eye for guys with facial hair or scars.
"I’ve got a hell of a moustache. I don’t know if that counts," the Glenavy Rangers cricket captain, volunteer firefighter and self-taught shearer said when searching for a reason the ladies might like him yesterday.
"I don’t know if girls like moustaches or not. You’d have to ask the ladies.
"If they’re into scars and moustaches, I’d be in for a hell of a chance, but pickings might be slim for girls with tastes like that . . ."
On the first day of competition, en route to the second challenge of the day in Matamata, he said the seven other bachelors he was travelling with presented some "very tough" competition.
"There’s a good group of jokers up here at the moment," Mr McCulloch said.
"I got third with a bit of luck [in the flower-arranging challenge], but yeah, some of the boys might be a florist in a different life."
Mr McCulloch’s scars come from a quad bike accident while pig-hunting near Duntroon about five years ago.
"I had a quad bike land on my head and shatter my skull," he said.
He had three titanium plates and 17 screws in his skull.
"I lost quite a bit of hair . . . but I’m still alive and kicking."
A Fieldays press release laid out the "quest for the Golden Gumboot" where contestants stopped at Farmlands stores in Pukekohe, Matamata and Rotorua, completing challenges from fencing to flower arranging on the first day yesterday. Today, the bachelors will take part in a challenge at Maratori Rural School in Taupo, then head to Farmlands stores in Te Kuiti and Te Awamutu, before arriving at the Mystery Creek Fieldays tomorrow.
At Fieldays, the bachelors would have their physical strength and fitness tested as well as their fencing, cooking and dog-handling skills. The winner would be announced on Saturday at noon with two titles up for grabs "Rural Bachelor of the Year" and people’s choice.
"All the boys are here for a bit of a good time and a bit of a laugh, and if we find a bird, well, you know, that’s a bit of a bonus, isn’t it," Mr McCulloch said.
"I’d be pretty serious if there’s the right girl there, sure.
"But you know, we haven’t met many girls yet. So . . . yeah, we’ll see how the rest of the week plays out, I suppose."
