Kristina Love and Joseph Virzi’s Carmichael Coal Mine love story

Kristina and Joseph hadn’t seen each other for five years before they met again while both working at Carmichael Coal Mine … now the NQ couple are engaged and expecting their first baby. Read the heartwarming story.

Kristina Love and Joe Virzi celebrate their engagement and share the heartwarming story of how they reconnected while both working for Bravus.

Kristina told Joseph to keep things under wraps at work when they first started dating … so, he obliged.

But the 34-year-old said she couldn’t help but feel offended when the diesel fitter walked straight past her and a colleague at Bravus Mining and Resources’ Carmichael mine – despite her direction to do just that.

In that moment she knew she had fallen for him, she said.

Bravus Mining and Resources’ travel accommodation specialist, Kristina Love shared the heartfelt story of how her and MacKellar Group’s Joseph Virzi reconnected at Carmichael’s Labona accommodation village after they had met five years prior in Cairns.

“We met in late 2018, it was the typical right person, wrong time and we both kind of went our own ways after that,” she said.

“We didn’t even really keep in touch, nothing.

“I was in an admin role at Carmichael and I was doing all the site entries to approve people to come out to the site and I saw Joseph’s site entry and nearly had a heart attack.”

Joseph laughed, as Kristina told the story – as he remembered that he was oblivious to this revelation at the time.

“It worked out that his first flight going out to site, I was actually flying out on as well,” Kristina said.

Kristina Love and Joe Virzi celebrate their engagement and share the heartwarming story of how they reconnected while both working for Bravus.

“So I was like, okay we’re going to bump into each other at the airport, I’ll make sure I’m looking fresh and nice – it poured down rain, torrential rain. I walked in and I was like a drowned rat.”

Joseph said he was not as quick to catch on.

“I was like, ‘I know this chick from somewhere’,” he said.

“We hadn’t seen each other for years.”

The pair inevitably bumped into each other at site and from there, their love rekindled.

“We just became really good mates again,” Kristina said.

“We didn’t start dating until the end of 2023.”

Kristina said she was adamant on “work being work” and keeping their relationship separate – so one day, as Joseph walked past her standing with a manager he ignored her.

“(He) just walked straight past me, no eye contact, nothing and I was so butt hurt,” she laughed.

Now, more than a year and a half on, the pair are engaged after Joseph proposed at the site of their first Townsville date on Magnetic Island and are expecting a baby to join their little family in October.

Kristina said the other workers at Carmichael had been a good community for them and were supportive of their journey.

The couple continue to work at the site and said they have no plans to leave as they expand their family and call Townsville home.
This article is part of the FUTURE TOWNSVILLE series, which was supported by S.Kidman, Bravus, Port of Townsville, Aurizon,Queensland Resources Council and Sun Metals.

Originally published as Kristina Love and Joseph Virzi’s Carmichael Coal Mine love story