The Best Job in the World

The BBC posted an article, on Monday, about a position that is being "billed as 'the best job in the world'". All you have to do is be the "caretaker" of Hamilton Island, Queensland, in the Great Barrier Reef, for six-months. It is beautiful (see the video); and it comes with a pay-packet of AUD150,000 "and a rent-free three-bedroom villa, complete with pool".

That's a whopping R997,235.13 (very close to ONE MILLION RAND) at today's exchange rate. This effectively erases the stress of "What am I going to do to earn a living after the 6-months is up?"

So what do are you expected to do? Well first you have to apply - by sending in a 60-second video selling yourself for the job. Then, if you get it, you head over to Hamilton in July and spend the 6-months "exploring the idyllic surroundings, filing weekly blog, photo diary and video updates and conducting ongoing media interviews".

Yes, this is a true job, not a joke. Queensland Tourism have put this concept together - a fabulous PR exercise for the region. The job is being advertised in 18 countries and competition is sure to be tough. Applications close 22 Feb.

There is a town on the island, with a population of 5,000 people - and an airstrip. So you're not alone.

I can just see days filled with exploring, learning about the fauna, flora and marine life, hours of snorkeling and paddling. And I'd hone my orienteering mapping skills, which are currently negligible because I've barely had a free weekend to practise, by mapping the island for an O event. What fun!

Gee-whizz, this has my name written all over it! Which probably explains why my friend in the UK sent the link to me.

Nice, nice, nice.

The website is www.islandreefjob.com, but I can't get on to it. As you would expect, it has received massive attention and the website hasn't been able to handle the traffic. 200,000 prospective applicants visited the website in the first 24-hours following the announcement of the competition! Tourism Queensland's website is www.tq.com.au.