The 18-year-old, who studies hospitality at St Johns College under the tutelage of Cecilia O’Donnell, shocked herself by finishing on the podium, putting aside an infected knee and an oven mishap to showcase her skills.

“It was an eventful trip to Melbourne, that’s for sure,” Miss Conte said.

“I went down there expecting to have some fun but to finish third, I still don’t believe it.

“I was limping the whole last day after falling over the day before. It turns out my knee was infected, but it all worked out well in the end.”

The competition involved three days of cookery, with Miss Conte’s first day involving the serving of a high tea of chocolate hazelnut slice, buttermilk scones and smoked salmon blinis.

Day two was Tapas of minestrone, vegetable platter and meatballs, while the competition came to an end with a serving of crispy skinned chicken maryland, polenta and broccoli, turned carrots served with a mushroom sauce. That was all topped off by a rhubarb creme brulee with white chocolate sauce.

“The high tea was my best day. I got to cook in the second shift and I saw a lot of the other competitors cook and miss their time limit by about half-an-hour,” she said.

“I was determined to be on time but in the end I missed by one minute but I still scored 27/30.

“I was most nervous about the tapas, and a few of the rules changed and we had to adjust and change presentation but it turned out alright as well.

“Then I had the fall and the third day had a couple of Gordon Ramsey moments. We had to share ovens and I found a guy who was using the same low temps as me, but because we were opening the oven a bit to check our dishes and it was gas, the oven turned off.

“Thankfully the judges gave us some more time and I was preparing a cold dessert so it didn’t impact that at all.”

In the end Miss Conte finished just 0.04 points from the runner-up, and while she was thrilled with her performance she insists she has no plans just yet of making food a full-time career.

To cap an already busy time, she returned to Dubbo to confront a hectic HSC examination schedule.

“I got back from Melbourne on the Monday and had three exams on the Thursday and Friday, and then spent the weekend in hospital,” she said. 

“I had a great time at World Skills and I think I cooked really well. I also made a lot of new friends as well,” she said.

“One of my friends Lucy Zattin, who used to go to St Johns, finished fourth so it was really enjoyable.

“But I still have the passion to be a paramedic so that’s what I’ll be aiming to do after I finish my HSC. I’ve only got my biology exam to go and it will all be over.”