The title says it all – this was something I’d really been looking forward to and to add to the excitement Juweon, one of the Best Job in the World finalists, was flying out from Korea to join me for the experience!

Taking a week long break from his usual morning radio show Juweon has travelled out with some important people from the Korean media including:

• Mr Choong Keol Lee – editor of GQ Men’s magazine, Korea
• Mr Myung Hyo Chung – editor of AB-Road, one of Korea’s top travel magazines, and
• Hyun Woo Sun – a ‘power’ blogger from Korea

The aim of the trip is to introduce the adrenaline-filled adventures which are possible in tropical North Queensland to their markets and over the course of the next few days we’ll be lucky enough to trial some of the more exciting adventures out.

First stop however was to let the local press know our intentions so we met journalists from ABC Radio, Channel 7 News and The Cairns Post to give them a heads up of how our trip would inform the market back in Korea of the experiences which can be found here.

It was great to see Juweon again, I recently took part in an interview for him on his radio show and after chatting on the phone it was great to see him again in person.

No rest for the wicked though, this is going to be a seriously busy few days and our first appointment is with Sunlover Cruises, one of the tour operators who leave Cairns on a daily basis and head to the Great Barrier Reef to give holiday makers and tourists the experience of a lifetime. It doesn’t matter how many times I go out to enjoy the reef, I still get little butterflies of excitement in my stomach as I prepare to head out there. Today was no different!

We make our way down to the dock and after a few press photos make it onboard the custom built catamaran, which whisks us out to Moore Reef in just over 90 minutes. Sunlover are hugely popular with tourists from Korea, China and Japan and the entire boat is virtually full as it’s almost the Chinese New Year celebrations and lots of people visit Cairns at this time of year.

On the way out all of the options for things to do during the day are offered, accommodating all levels of experience and confidence in the water; there’s snorkelling, glass-bottom boat trips, touch-pools, underwater viewing chambers, SCUBA diving and the excellent Seawalker experience. It’s been nearly two months since I had my last dive on the reef and I’ve been missing it hugely. I think it’s one of those things that once you’ve tried it you just can’t stop wanting to do it – have I really become addicted to diving? There could be worse things I suppose…

As we arrive at the pontoon that the catamaran ties up against, the staff onboard go about their business looking after the excited customers all wanting to get off and get involved in their chosen activity. Most of the media crew I’m travelling with have never had the chance to dive before, so after very little persuasion they all decide to give it a go – bar the one unfortunate chap who can’t as he’s taking medication for high blood pressure. It’s good to see that the dive-master stops him from going due to the safety implications, much to his despair and infuriated protesting!

We make our way down to the pontoon and into the dive area, kit up and prepare to enter that hugely exciting underwater world once more. As I am the only certified diver onboard out of 243 passengers I get Vance, the dive master, all to myself! We make our way down the steps and into the warm (30 degrees C!!) tropical water. Cyclone Olga, which recently hit the coastline, came through this area only five days ago but there are no ill-effects visible on the reef, maybe the water has slightly less visibility than usual as the bottom’s been churned up, but there’s no damage to the coral or delicate sponges which are abundant here. It’s totally wicked getting back under the water again and within a few seconds I feel at home again, hovering above fish, watching Cleaner Wrasse at work and staring at the Anemone Fish close-up as they protect their bizarre stinging home.

After an hour of swimming around with my excellent divemaster Vance, we return to our entry point and surface on the steps of the pontoon. As ever I gush my story of what I’d seen to the nearest person – that being him. It’s the only disappointing thing to me about diving you know, not being able to speak to the person you’re down there with!

Meantime the Korean crew have been having some fun of their own, they’ve tried out SCUBA diving for themselves and spout their own reports of just how good it was. That’s the plan you see – tempt them with the good stuff so they return home and tell everyone about it.

We’ve all built up a bit of an appetite being part of the watery world below and head for the buffet to fill up on some food. The spread on offer is just what’s needed – pasta salads, cold meats, prawns and fresh fruit.

By the time 16:00hrs arrives we’re all ready to head home, the announcement comes over the speakers that were off and we bid farewell to the Sunlover pontoon. There are no Reef Rats living out here unlike the Fantasea one so all the staff who’ve become friends over the course of the day head home with us. We grab our photos from them and find a seat to fall asleep in. It’s been a long day…

Once we’ve had the chance to shower and freshen up the unrepentant itinerary kicks in again – this time with dinner at the Blue Sky Brewery just down the road. A short walk away we arrive at one of Cairns’ hotspots it seems as there’s loads going on!

The brewery was opened by a local Cairns family around two years ago and is one of the most successful micro-breweries in the country having scooped a handful of awards at the Australian Beer Awards in 2009. The bar and restaurant are wide, open and as you approach the bar a daunting line-up of barrels takes centre stage to greet you!

We all sat down and enjoyed a social dinner together and it was good to chat to another blogger, Mr Hyun, about his work, websites and interaction with social networking. Something that has become a big part of my job.

If the remaining three days of this adventure tour are anything to go by then we’re going to have an incredible time together – I just hope some others within the group have enough adrenaline reserves to get through it!

I’ve been back from my trip to the USA for a few days now, the coverage the Best Job campaign still receives is excellent news with the media interest focusing on:

“So now that it’s all over – how was it? No really how was it?!”

“Tell me how do you follow the Best Job – surely nothing comes close?!”

They’re all the standard questions but everyone wants to know the answer of course and I honestly tell them it could never be matched, well maybe the next eighteen months won’t quite match it but if the first one is anything to go by then it’ll come pretty damn close!

The P.R. value achieved through the TV and radio appearances go a huge way to reminding the public about Queensland and the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef but the other side of the tour is the presentations I’ve been making to the travel industry in each of the locations I’ve visited.

These are targeted at the most important part of that industry, the travel agents. For it’s them that help convert a customer’s mere thought into a booking, which is what we’re all aiming for.

————————————————————————————————————

I’ve set myself another goal for 2010 and that’s to get properly fit again. If there’s one thing that the last six months have done for me (apart from the obvious good stuff) it’s drop my fitness back down to a level I haven’t seen for five years.

Completing my Afritrex expedition around Africa involved running five marathons and to do that I needed to be fit….really fit and the pinnacle of this challenge was the Comrades Ultra marathon in South Africa. 56 miles or 89 kms of running hell…

Comrades Route Map

…so I thought I’d set myself the daunting task of doing it again this year.

Why you’re probably wondering? I’m not 100% sure really; I love the idea of trying to mentally battle through the 10 hours of hell that the race is, taking it through the pain barrier and pushing myself to my limits once more.

The race takes place on May 30^th between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa and I’ll be taking some time off work to attend two weddings and to run the race.

But in order to up my fitness level to anything barely resembling that which I’ll need, I’ve been hitting the streets of my new home city, Brisbane. There’s a huge network of tracks, cycle paths and boardwalks covering the city and the sights and sounds of an urban environment are actually very interesting to run in – coming from the countryside of Hampshire I thought I’d never say that!

Brisbane's boardwalk

I’m also trying to find somewhere to live in this great city, getting to know and recognise new places and suburbs is tough when you don’t have a car so combining my training and a reconnaissance mission were the order of the day on Saturday as I took to the streets to investigate further:

To prepare for the Comrades I have to find at least one half and one full marathon between now and the day of the race in May. I’ve already decided to head back to my old stomping ground on Hamilton Island at the beginning of May to run the descriptively named ‘Hamilton Island Hilly Half Marathon’ which should be a stern test.

Hilly Half route

Half marathons are never easy but this one goes up and down the many steep sections of the island and heads off road for a good part too. I’ve trained on these hills and love them…but they hurt.

Why not enter yourself? Combine a week away in paradise with a testing, gruelling run – further details for the event can be found here:

Hilly Half details

To download the PDF of the event please click here

With only 4 months to go I’m trying to find another full length marathon in Queensland which I can enter – does anyone know of one?!

Back soon with some outtakes from my original Best Job application last year…

Ben

What a week it’s been! After the most amazing storms I’ve seen in a long time, California has been cleaning up the mess whilst the hills surrounding Los Angeles have been reaping the rewards.

Snow upon snow has fallen with 7ft of fine powder gracing the slopes of Mount Baldy, out to the east of the city. Over the weekend Ben Fleming (from TQ in the US) invited me to go and try out the snowboarding there….so of course I jumped at the chance. I won’t go into too much detail suffice to say it was an amazing day out – bar the constant queues, but when you have that much snow around a city it’s bound to happen.

Here’s just a few of the photos I took whilst I was there:

Back to business at the start of the week with a trip up to Toronto, Canada to make a presentation to the industry and to appear on some of the local television networks, this time Global TV and CP24 to discuss about the experience of the last six months in Queensland.

What a nightmare the travel to Toronto from Los Angeles was though. Now I consider myself pretty lucky in the fact that I haven’t ever really been delayed when flying before – and I’ve done a fair bit of it over the last ten years, so I suppose by the law of probability I was due my dose and boy did I get it.

I left LAX an hour later than scheduled (not so bad you’re probably saying) due to bad weather in Atlanta, which of course can’t be avoided. All flights in and out of the city had to be delayed as there was a tornado and two planes were actually struck by lightening. A good enough reason to stay firmly on the ground. As my connecting flight had also been delayed there was still a chance I could get to it in time…

The chain of events went something like this:

• Arrive at Atlanta airport with 20 mins before scheduled departure of connecting flight to Toronto
• Sit on tarmac meantime the arrival gate is changed from A to E. My next flight was departing from A so a race through the airport to get to it was in order
• Get to gate hot and flustered with minutes to spare
• Announcement made to delay flight by 30 mins – 10pm
• Announcement made to delay flight by 30 mins – 10.30pm
• Announcement made to delay flight by 30 mins – 11pm
• Announcement made to delay flight by 30 mins – 11.30pm
• Announcement made that we would be boarding in 15 mins
• Bemused flight crew board plane and start checks
• All information screens around gate turned off
• Flight gate airline representative disappears
• Wait 10 minutes until…
• Another passenger notices our departure gate has changed from 19 to 33!
• Race through terminal to new gate followed by even more bemused flight crew now off plane
• Announcement made that flight would leave at 1.00am
• Flight crew board new plane due to technical problems with other one
• Announcement made to delay flight by 30 mins – 1.30am
• Still no airline representative present, flight delayed by a further 30 mins – 2am
• 2.30am – flight crew walk back off plane as they have ‘timed-out’ and due to maximum number of working hours being reached can no longer fly plane
• Uproar amongst passengers – told need to rebook for the morning
• Trapse through terminal to customer services
• Join queue of approx 500 people all suffering the same problem with other flights
• 5.45am – reach front of queue and told new flight departs at 7.25am
• Make way to gate and board new flight
• Depart Atlanta 7.50 a.m.
• Arrive Toronto 10.00 a.m.
• Make way to baggage carousel
• WAIT
• WAIT MORE
• NO BAGGAGE TURNS UP!!!!!!!!
• Fill in forms and told bag will arrive at hotel before 9 p.m.

So you see the amazingly disruptive time I had trying to cross the US. into Canada. With my first television interview just a few hours away a quick shower and freshen up was in order. Shana (Tourism Queensland’s Regional Director for the America’s) had very kindly been out and bought me a set of fresh clothes and we headed straight to the studio.

I was shattered, with no sleep from the entire night before, my favourite double espresso was all that kept me going that day and by the time I’d got back to the hotel after my travel agent presentation I was ready to flop. One more twist to the tale though – MY BAG STILL HADN’T ARRIVED! ARGHHHHHH.

The next morning was an early start to make the Morning Show at CP24, one of Canada’s only 24-hour news channels. I loved this interview, really relaxed and with two hosts who were really interested in the whole Best Job story.

To kill time while the promised hour of 11 a.m. approached (my new expected time of arrival for my bag), Shana and I headed up one of Toronto’s famous landmarks – the C.N. Tower, or Canadian National Tower. Bre would be very jealous right now, not only am I on her land of birth but I’m taking on that fear of heights again. Something she’d have no problem with!

Even though it was a typically grotty northern hemisphere day the views were awesome. At 447m high it’s an imposing building which just about kept it’s head beneath the clouds during our visit. Walking on the glass floor still filled me with ‘the fear’ though…

Back at the hotel my bag had finally arrived – 36 hours later than it was supposed to. I’ve managed to hold my tongue throughout this whole experience about who the carrier was and the appalling service that I and the other passengers received. All we needed was for someone, anyone, to communicate what was going on and to keep us informed but noone did and that is where major companies fall down far too often. Maybe even a hotel for the night, a breakfast token or even a glass of water would have been good and taken the edge off the shoddy experience but nothing was forthcoming. Hugely disappointing.

I’d suggested to Shana the idea of a road trip may be good to get us from Toronto to New York, I love long drives and it just gives a much better understanding of the country you’re travelling through compared to flying there. So we hired a car (which was upgraded to an SUV – very stateside) and at 11 a.m. left Toronto for the border. Travelling with us was ‘Snappy’ – a particularly cute toy crocodile who we’ve been using as the Tourism Queensland mascot on the trip and it was our job to shoot him in some interesting locations…how did we do?!

It was great fun, we stopped off at Niagara Falls on the way, that famous landmark, and what an incredible place it is for two reasons.

• Firstly it’s stunning attraction with millions of gallons of water pouring over the edge into the mist below, there’s hardly anyone else there in the thick of winter with the temperature just below freezing. The banks of the river are frozen solid with huge lumps of ice floating down stream.
• Secondly because to me it is an example of ‘How not to do Tourism’. Take something as stunning as a natural waterfall and surround it with what can only be described as a disgustingly tacky theme-park with McDonalds, Burger King, Wax works, tacky shops, a Hard Rock cafe – in fact everything you do not want to see when you go to admire nature. Have a look at the street leading to the falls:

We had another appointment to take Snappy to. Lunch in the town of Buffalo for some famous chicken wings. On a recommendation by the border police we hunted out a restaurant and ate some of the spiciest food I’ve had in a while.

The road trip continued all the way to New York and 11 hours after leaving we made it to our hotel in the city – we both had a great time and took in some of the important sights too.

This morning I was up bright and early for another media appearance, this time on the Gayle King Show. Gayle is Oprah Winfrey’s best friend and after appearing on her show a few months ago it was time to visit XM Radio which broadcasts right around the planet via satellite, to have a fifteen minute talk all about the Best Job and what the future holds. She’s a really lovely, receptive lady who beams energy and we bounced well off each other making the final interview of the trip a total pleasure – thank you to all involved for arranging it!

And now I’m sat on a flight back to Los Angeles (using the inflight Wi-Fi system which every single plane should have as it rocks!) where I’ll spend the night before departing for the warmth of Brisbane tomorrow.

More adventures in the tropics of North Queensland are fast approaching as I have a Men’s Adventure Tour to take part in with my good friend and fellow Best Job finalist, Juweon Kim at the start of February. It should make another great blog!

Ben

If you have enjoyed the work and blogs/tweets I’ve been putting out over the last few months would you be kind enough to follow the link below and vote for me as I’m up for a Shorty Award! Thank you

http://shortyawards.com/Bensouthall

—————————————————————————————————————–

I’ve been in the USA for over a week now and ever since I arrived here the weather hasn’t exactly been what I’d expect from California at this time of year – in fact it’s not exactly what the locals would have expected either!

There’s been torrential rain, huge squally winds, the odd tornado and lightening strikes aplenty and that’s just here around Los Angeles. Up in the mountains, which surround this vast sprawling city, snow has fallen unabated with around 20 inches / 50 centimetres in some resorts. Winter has hit here with damaging results. It’s all been pretty easy for me to deal with though, coming from the UK you could say I’m used to a little rain and wind!

Just have a look at the way the pressure dropped on the graph below and the resulting rain that arrived:

So I’ve tried to deal with it as best I can. Not wanting to hide in my room and waste this opportunity to see a new location, and with a busy 2010 on the running calendar coming up (including the Comrades Ultra Marathon, South Africa in May) I grabbed my kit and headed out onto the sopping wet streets of the city. Normally I’d use the Runkeeper application on my iPhone to show me where I’m going, but being on international roaming it doesn’t make good financial sense to constantly download Google Map images.

I headed out with my GPS, a paper map, by backpack and camera and made for the coast – the mecca of Californian surfing….well on a good day anyway! It took me an hour to get there running into a strong headwind all the way and I didn’t see one other human being ‘outside’ of their car the entire time. I must be mad.

The beach was a mess; huge charging surf, flooded car parks, washed out beaches and the odd bird struggling to make headway in the gusting winds – it was a little different to the picture perfect Baywatch scene I’d imagined. Oh well it made a damn good run and witnessing the planes battling to land as they came into LAX airport was a sight to behold. It still amazes me that these huge lumps of metal actually stay in the air…

I’d spent the morning visiting another television station for an interview, this time KTLA in Los Angeles. There’s been so much interest in the ‘Best Job’ campaign right around the world since it started a year ago, that the story has been followed by media outlets far and wide all wanting to know about the experience and I’m only to happy to oblige. This one was pretty simple; a friendly trio of presenters, easy enough questions and just a hint of jealousy from the viewers…that’s what we’re trying to do after all!

Whilst over here I’ve also been giving some presentations to the travel industry about the job, Queensland and what happens next…that very obvious question. It’s a really new role I’ve taken on and hadn’t really done much before, bar at a wedding a few years ago, and one that becomes easier the more I do it.

G’Day USA is taking place at various locations with the next stop being Toronto, Canada for a couple of days before an overnight in New York and then back to L.A. for the flight home to Australia.

This part of California has impressed me you know; ok L.A. is a sprawling, vast mass of buildings and people bisected by roads, overpasses and freeways but it’s on these roads that there’s a noticeable difference. I’ve long been interested in looking after the environment and have considered owning a Toyota Pruis once I get back to Brisbane. They’re environmentally friendly and have a hybrid engine which significantly reduces the consumption of petrol. It switches between electric and engine driven power and as an Automotive Engineer fascinates me!

They are everywhere out here in California, there must be one every 10th car, and in a nation which loves the SUV and huge V8 engines it’s quite a statement. The ‘Arnie’ government have helped out the public as well by reducing taxes on owning one and have allowed them to travel in the ‘Car Pool’ lane – usually only for vehicles with more than one person. In my mind the USA wasn’t doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint but this goes a long way to at least making a visible start.

I headed out of the Queensland summer on the 12th January aboard V Australia’s a flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles to start the first leg of my new role as the Global Ambassador representing the state of Queensland and the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

During the trip I’ll be making presentations to the travel industry and hopefully lots of excited customers all keen to find out more about the islands and the experiences I’ve had over the last few months. G’Day USA is an annual event introducing to Americans the experiences and everything that’s possible in Australia through trade and business. Tourism, being Queensland’s second biggest employer, is high on the agenda so together with Anna Bligh the Premier, we’ve been embarking on a media tour to tell New York, Los Angeles and beyond all about why Queensland is so good and discussing the options that are available for those people wishing to holiday in the state.

There are links below to the two appearances we’ve made on the Today Show and Fox & Friends, two of America’s biggest morning programmes.

I’ve since flown back to L.A. and over the weekend made a number of speeches to the public and representatives from the travel industry here, all about Queensland and the experiences I’ve had over the last few months as the Island Caretaker.

Having taken so many photos during that time it’s easy to choose the ones I need in order to make a good, light hearted presentation, and the reception I received was pretty good! Having a substantial prize to give away always helps to fill a room (not just the fact that I’m talking!) and Qantas had been kind enough to donate two return flights to Cairns as part of it along with two nights accommodation at Thala Beach Lodge, and a packed house awaited me in the theatre. The huge backdrop of the Great Barrier reef really enticed people to come and find out more about it and the children loved the touch pool with real life star fish in it!

Saturday night was The Gala Black Tie Dinner taking place at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom in Los Angeles, a celebration of all things Australian and what a fantastic night it was! With 900 people attending the room was filled with an electric atmosphere and kicked off with a presentation by the Qantas Children’s Choir with their rendition of “I still call Australia Home” – very uplifting and truly angelic voices all round.

The evening recognised and rewarded some of Australia’s best known Ambassadors who now live and work in the USA, Greg Norman was the first to be recognised and the speech presenting his award was made by none other than John Travolta! Wow I’m in the presence of greatness here!

As dinner was served the feeling across the room was one of expectation and excitement, what a start to the evening! The next award of the evening was to Simon Baker the actor who’s starred in movies such as The Devil wears Prada and the more recent CBS series The Mentalist, and the role-out of stars continued with Aussie legend Nicole Kidman giving the speech. Then when it couldn’t get any better she and her husband Keith Urban sang a ode to Simon himself….here it is below:

The final award of the night went to the actress Toni Collette whose movies include In Her Shoes and Little Miss Sunshine and the very amusing Cameron Diaz strutted on stage to make a very amusing speech and presentation. Things got even better for Toni last night as she collected a Golden Globe as the Best Actress in a Television Series for her role in United States of Tara. It appears the Aussies are taking the USA by storm right now!

After the awards had been made it was time to dive into the desserts and also time to take our chance socialising with the stars. Shana (Tourism Queensland’s US Director), Wendy (Tourism Queensland’s stand-in CEO) and I headed into the crowds to go and meet the celebs!

It may appear a huge amount of fun, and it was, but at the same time the event raises Australia’s profile in the US and opens lots of doors for trade and tourism alike. Please can I go back next year!?!

Location: Whitsunday Airport, Queensland

Weather: Puffy white clouds and blue skies with sunshine. Let’s skydive!! 32c

Skydiving over the Whitsundays

This was the BIG ONE – the one I’d been dreading for ages and had tried to put off for as long as possible. Bre however has been nagging like an old fishwife every since the offer was made back in August. I’d managed to deflect her requests to throw myself out of a plane with excuses of ‘too much wind’ or ‘the cloud cover means they won’t be running today’ but the day had arrived when nothing would stick.

Now it’s not that I really can’t do heights at all, I mean I climb mountains and I did do the worlds highest bungee jump last year. It’s just I seem to develop Frozen-Leg-Syndrome when I go close to the edge of cliffs, on suspended walkways etc and Bre knows this.

My contact over the last few weeks had been Sooz, the girl who seems to do everything and run the operation, and as we stomped up the ramp off the Fantasea ferry she was here to take us the short ten minute drive to the airport. The big sign welcoming us to the Whitsunday Airport loomed large with the words ‘SKYDIVE’ emblazoned across it…well here we go then.

My jumpmaster was called ‘Dawsey’ – abbreviated in the traditional Aussie way of course! (shorten it and add an ‘ie’, ‘y’ or ‘o’ on the end) First job of course was to sign my life away, if it all ended in disaster I would have no one to blame but myself.

Next to don the sexy looking jump trousers and harness, ball jerkingly tight but better that than to fall out I suppose, and run through the briefing on how to fall out of the plane’s door once we hit the ‘dropzone’. I’ve always loved that phrase – it just sounds so totally rad man, very Point Break!

So far I’m doing ok, no nerves, just a gun’ho attitude which Bre seems to adopt and does here ok. Maybe I’m learning from the Master here? If I can take this on and do it, it’s another personal challenge out of the way. I have completed a parachute jump before but I was 16 and that’s a seriously long time ago now and it was a static line jump.

A little explanation:

Static line parachute jump – you jump yourself from the plane with your own parachute which is attached to a point inside the plane by a small cord. As you exit the door the cord pulls out your chute automatically deploying it. Usually from about 3,500ft.

Tandam freefall – you’re strapped to a jumpmaster who deploys the parachute for you both after freefalling through the heavens for about a minute. Takes place from 8000ft + and we jumped from 14,000ft. THE way to do it!

Bre and I clamber into the rear of the little plane with Dawsey and Matty, our jumpmasters, handing out the instructions. There was no going back now. Sat between their legs we taxied down the runway and the plane climbed above the Whitsundays giving a superb view through clear skies below.

We reached our jump altitude of 14,000ft ten minutes later and suddenly the time was upon us, no chickening out, just a mad adrenaline ride all the way to the ground.

Bre was first up, Matty and her slid there way into the door and five seconds later were gone!

Me next – well here goes nothing. Hanging out of the door, feet tucked under the plane, the overpowering sound of the wind racing past my face as we travelled at over 150km/h forwards…and then we were out, dropping at over 200km/h straight down!

The G-forces were biting at my face forcing a huge teeth-filled grin across my face as we dropped like a rock towards terra firma far below – in fact not that far! We fell and fell for what seems like no time at all, the ground racing to meet us as we dropped through light cloud – the light mist cooling our faces as we fell.

And with a snatch akin to a trouser jerking wedgie, suddenly we were hanging there underneath the now deployed canopy, floating 3000ft above the airfield below. The sound of the rushing wind gone, replaced by a serene congratulatory silence, broken occasionally by Dawsey talking to me.

That was nothing short of incredible!!! As we slowly dropped towards the landing zone I took hold of the controls and steered us down in big twisting turns assisted by Dawsey of course until he gave the command to lift my feet and legs up in preparation for landing.

A final approach towards the awaiting team and we’d done it – my first freefall jump over and I’d actually loved virtually every moment of it!

As I turned around on the runway Bre was about to make her landing and I could hear her almost before anything, WAHOOO’ing as only she can, arms flailing and legs out wide.

Once unhooked we made our way back to the office and traded stories about the experience, you know quite how amazing something is when you’re literally stumbling over each other to get your side of the story out!

I didn’t think I’d actually enjoy throwing myself out of a plane but it was flippin amazing and I’d go straight back tomorrow if the chance was there – thank you to all at Airlie Skydive especially Sooz for making it all happen.

End of day location: Right back where I started – terra firma

Distance travelled: 14,000ft straight down!

As the Best Experience in the World, aka the chance to be an Island Caretaker helper in Queensland ends, I wanted to take this opportunity to report back to all of the Islandreefjob.com followers and lend Tourism Queensland’s Island Caretaker a hand by posting an update about the fantastic experiences we had in Queensland.

It’s hard to believe that the trip has already come to an end and when I reflect back about our visit to the Islands there are so many wonderful stand out experiences that I feel I need to mention. From Cape Tribulation in the North right down to the Brisbane in the south I wanted to share with you some of our trip…

One of our first activities after arriving in Queensland was a visit to the Cairns Tropical Zoo where we were met by our host Larry who took us for a tour and gave us the chance to feed the kangaroos, hold a koala bear and a black head python snake. A few days after our visit to the Zoo we went for a drive to Mareeba for some hot air ballooning. Our balloon was the largest in the southern hemisphere and takes 450,000 cubic feed of air to fill. It can rise at a rate of 500 feet a minute. The view from above was unbelievable and we could see the houses, farms, animals running through the wild bush! One of the nicest things about Queensland and I guess a perk about the Best Experience in the World is that we always felt that we had someone looking out for us and making sure everything went to plan.

After a few days in and around Cairns we headed out to Green Island for our first Island experience. This particular coral cay is incredible formed by the build up of broken down coral the first thing we did was go out on the glass bottom boat and explore the natural surroundings. In this first visit to the reef we saw turtles, fish and of course some beautiful coral reefs. Our day out on the boat was followed by some snorkelling, swimming, relaxing on the beach and a spectacular sunset. It is truly hard to capture the beauty of Green Island with a video camera and is something that needs to be explored first-hand.

Our next stop was Port Douglas the girls decided to go for a scuba dive and Paul and I opted for a snorkel. What an amazing place to have your first dive! The girls were taken through the safety procedures and confidently descended to about 6-7 meters and practices the hand signs and pressure equalisation. While the girls were off exploring this underwater wonderland, Paul and I were taken aback by how much there was to see in just 1-2 meters from the surface. There were a few times I had to be careful not to bump the coral or get in to shallow water. The fish and terrain were magnificent! So many different types, shapes and colours of coral – I didn’t want to get out!

In contrast one of the best off the water experiences we had was Jungle Surfing in the Daintree Rainforest. After harnessing up, we put on our helmets and hiked for about five minutes up a trail before getting to the first platform. In total there were four platforms available which offer visitors either a fast paced or scenic experience. Each of our helmets were set aside with our Jungle Surfing name, i.e mine was Barbie, very original, Kelsey was Dora, Shelby was Nemo and Paul was Tarzan. We had a great time flying above the tree tops and stopping to check out some of the deep gullies.

Another stand out experience was our Thanksgiving dinner on Magnetic Island. On our way to the dinner we saw several koala’s sitting in the trees and stopped by the fort which had spectacular views towards Alma Bay on one side and Horseshoe Bay in the other direction. The meal was prepared by a local chef and was absolutely mouth watering, a lovely touch to our trip.

Every new destination we visited brought on new and fantastic experiences such as our jet ski safari off Airlie Beach. We started the tour up the river to get our bearings on the smoother water before the girls took off with Paul and I close behind chasing them. It was a great way to see the wildlife and after an hour and half Paul and I switched driving and we cruised around for a while before heading to the bay.

The following day after our exciting jet ski adventure we started our trip across to Hamilton Island. The ride over was beautiful as we worked our way between several small islands it reminded us of the ferry ride from Seattle to Vancouver Island but much warmer!

After a quick trip around the island to check out the key spots we stopped for lunch during which we spotted our Island Caretaker passing through the Marina with his girlfriend Bre. Ben is such a lovely guy, so welcoming, we talked for a while and grabbed some photos before deciding to catch up for sunset drinks at one tree hill. After drinks Ben took us to see his fabulous ‘office’ and we decided to go and grab some dinner together at Romanos. It was like hanging out with a couple of locals, Ben is energetic, friendly and very likeable – you can see why Tourism Queensland picked him for the job. Our next encounter with Ben and Bre was at the Hamilton Island Koala Gallery for breakfast and a lot of group shots which was great fun.

The next island experience on our trip awaited us at Heron Island where we headed out to the beach to watch the sea turtles lay their eggs. This was a truly memorable moment as we watched several turtles including a loggerhead, digging and starting to lay their eggs. On the topic of turtles our next island stop was to Lady Elliot Island where we had the opportunity to swim with these magnificent creatures and then a scenic flight over to Bundaberg which took us to Mon Repos for another opportunity to watch the giant loggerheads lay their eggs on the beach. This time the nest was too close to the water so we had the opportunity to watch the rangers in action, digging up all 128 eggs and relocating them.

Needless to say we fell in love with Queensland with all its diverse geography and friendly people. Between the Great Barrier Reef, the rainforest and the beautiful beaches we had a difficult time coming up with our “Best of Queensland” list which also lead to much discussion and debate.

So what I would really like to say is great big “Thank You to all”! The memories, experiences and events will be with us for our lifetime!

Barbie Defeo and Family

Location: Dent Island (Hamilton Island Golf Course)

Weather: The sun has come back out after a few days of wet, humid grey stuff! 32c

Well the fun has been continuing in full effect. I know it’s supposed to have finished in theory this wonderful Best Job in the World gig but there have been a few offers which have been made since July which Bre and I have had to take up before leaving Hamilton Island!

Number One – Riding a Segway machine!!

I think I first saw one of these awesome machines back in the UK about ten years ago and have always wanted to jump on to see what they’re all about. When we visited Tangalooma resort on Moreton Island a few weeks back there were a few of these futuristic looking contraptions racing up and down the sandy beach and the temptation increased…

Segway Green info

When a guy called Eric from Tours Plus contacted me and suggested having a trial run on one of their Segways I jumped at the chance. So yesterday morning Bre and I made our way down to the Fantasea ferry to meet Eric and Louise who’d made it across from the mainland with a fleet of four Segway X2’s – the off-road version of their commuter model.

Tours Plus offer eco friendly tours throughout the Whitsundays and these machines can go so many places I wouldn’t have imagined; over long grass, through pretty deep sand and up fairly steep slopes too. It was time for us to learn a new skill…

We run through the basics; how to stand on them, leaning into turns, tilting forwards and backwards and then we’re off – on a small patch of concrete just to make sure we can handle them (in ‘turtle’ mode – the slowest pace to start off with). It’s such an awesome feeling once you’ve got the hang of it and one which really does feel really natural.

Ok these things are superb but you can’t legally drive them on the roads in Queensland, in fact in any of Australia. They’re legal in all but four states of the USA and by all accounts as a means of transport they work – environmentally friendly, no need to jump in a huge car as one person in a city, simple to operate, great for a sunny climate and above all FUN!!

I’d love to see people commuting in a city on these things – imagine it people! The future is here. Bre did bring up a good point though…if people starting using these instead of walking/cycling to work then surely it’ll mean a lot less exercise and a therefore higher obesity rates!

After an hour of familiarising ourselves with the machines it’s time to turn the heat up a bit – ‘turtle’ mode is replaced by ‘rabbit’ mode and the fun really starts…these things move I tell you, all of a sudden were racing not riding. I could get to work so much quicker if I got one!

This is not a blatant sale for Segway – this is really a chance to say there’s a few places here in Queensland that offer the chance to trial out these machines by taking a tour with them. Their environmental footprint is close to nothing, they are virtually silent in operation and the mark they leave on sand is even less than my print from my foot.

If you’re here in Queensland then have a go at any of these places:

Tours Plus, The Whitsundays

Tangalooma Island Report, Moreton Island, Brisbane

Novotel Twin Waters Resort, Sunshine Coast

Couran Cove Resort, Gold Coast

Corporate Xperiences, Brisbane

The end result of this little experiment is that I now really want one, I also really want the people who can make the changes in positions of power to ride one of these to see quite how good they could be worldwide in reducing our reliance on the motor car, the direct use of fossil fuels, driving vehicles with one person in and even the long lines of traffic we see in cities far too often.

If, and it’s a big IF, rules and regulations change I’d love to ride one of these into the office in Brisbane!

End of day location: Hamilton Island after lapping Dent Island

Distance covered: 20kms on an electric Segway

• Between the Devil and the Deep – in wooden ships, the “devil” was the longest seam of the ship. It ran from the bow to the stern. When at sea and the “devil” had to be caulked, the sailor sat in a bo’sun’s chair to do so. He was suspended between the “devil” and the sea the “deep” a very precarious position, especially when the ship was underway.
• Starboard – The Vikings called the side of their ship its board, and they placed the steering oar, the “star” on the right side of the ship, thus that side became known as the “star board.” It’s been that way ever since.
• Three Sheets to the Wind – We use the term “three sheets to the wind” to describe someone who has too much to drink. As such, they are often bedraggled with perhaps shirttails out, clothes a mess. The reference is to a sailing ship in disarray, that is with sheets (lines not “ropes” that adjust the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind ) flapping loosely in the breeze.
• Took the wind out of his sails – Often we use “took the wind out of his sails” to describe getting the best of an opponent in an argument. Originally it described a battle maneuver of sailing ships. One ship would pass close to its adversary and on its windward side. The ship and sails would block the wind from the second vessel, causing it to lose headway. Losing motion meant losing maneuverability and the ability to carry on a fight.

Location: Hamilton Island

Weather: Very light winds, blue skies and a few puffy clouds – lets go sailing!!

Mum and Dad were visiting me for the last few days of the Best Job in the World experience and I’d been harping on about sailing around the Whitsundays and how damn amazing it was when I did it back in August during Race Week here on the island.

So there was no better way to demonstrate exactly what I’d been going on about than to actually get them out onto the water to try it for themselves. Mum is known for being a little bit prone to seasickness so I prayed hard the night before for a calm ocean and sunshine…

Result! Perfect conditions for sailing – a mirror like ocean greeted me from the balcony of the Blue Pearl with ‘Simpsons’ clouds punctuating the otherwise infinite blue skyscape. I’m going to miss this view you know – it’s the biggest and best TV screen I’ve ever had and so much more rewarding than sitting in front of an actual television!

We’d caught the first Fantasea ferry of the day across the Whitsunday Passage and Vanessa from Whitsunday Rent a Yacht was there to whisk us the incredibly short 750 metres around to their offices and pontoon where we’d depart from. I’ve cruised into Shute Harbour on countless occasions and dreamily gazed across to the fleet of modern looking yachts with their telltale blue and red ensigns wondering exactly what goes on there…we were about to find out.

Having just a smidgeon of experience on the water before really didn’t fill me with the overwhelming confidence I’d need to take out one of the yachts for an overnight cruise. So we’d been given the option of having a skipper come out with us so we’d have a more relaxing time – this was just what we needed. Think about it – me in charge of a $750,000 boat really wasn’t the sort of responsibility I needed just yet.

Mike and Nancy would be our impeccable hosts for our ‘far-too-short’ trip – usually you’d need around a week to explore all of the hidden gems around the 74 islands of the Whitsundays but with Christmas just around the corner we only had an overnight trip. Well Mum and Dad were chuffed just to be onboard.

‘Chantilly’ – the pride of the fleet would be our home for the next day, she’s a pretty stunning looking catamaran from the outside and that’s before even climbing the stairs up her hull and into the luxurious cockpit living area.

Being a Beneteau she’s kitted out for a very comfortable lifestyle with an outside hospitality area right next to where the captain sits and behind the extensive glass windows is the smartest lounge area I’ve seen on a sailing boat. Why tip over on a mono-hull when you can cruise level on a catamaran?

Downstairs the smart theme continues and there’s space for my family and loads more, in fact ‘Chantilly’ has space for ten people to stay and each of the rooms even has an ensuite bathroom with shower and more than enough room to swing a cat too.

I’ve always wondered who would be cruel enough to actually swing a cat around just to size a room – bizarre words and phrases we use aren’t they!?

Back on deck its all about relaxing this time around, previously I’d been learning about sheets, grinding, knots etc but Mike has everything under control and can literally sail the yacht sat in his chair. The electric winches, jammers etc operated by the flick of a switch all within easy reach. Amazing.

From the moment we got on board I knew food wasn’t going to be a problem here; Nancy has been furiously working away in the kitchen with the vast array of gorgeously palatable food that Whitsunday Provisions have supplied for our mini-expedition and round after round of cheese, fruit, cakes and chocolate keeps appearing from nowhere. The time to diet is in the New Year – not now.

As we head across the Whitsunday Passage the wind starts to pick up just enough to fill the mainsail and after an hour or so of moving under motor the sound of the engine goes quiet and we’re finally cruising by perfectly natural means…that of the wind.

It totally transforms the experience and for the first time in a few weeks I grab my book and head to the foredeck to catch up on some vital reading. It’s times like these that have been few and far between over the last few months and with the backdrop of the Whitsundays on offer it really does feel like a holiday at last.

Mum and Dad are in their element too. Dad has taken the wheel for the past hour and under the watchful eye of Mike is carefully steering us into one of the many sheltered channels around Hook Island in time for lunch – another meal already.

We spend the afternoon cruising around the picturesque islands and decide, with the northerly winds, to head to Tongue Bay just short of Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach – ready for an early morning assault on the tourist destination. Our dinner under the stars is superb, the BBQ is fired up and we watch the glowing fiery orange ball drop behind the horizon as dinner is served. There is nowhere I’d rather be in the world right now…

Mum and dad haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the iconic sight of Whitehaven Beach from the viewing platform by Hill Inlet and so Mike drops us off in the rubber duck and we prepare to climb over the crest of the hill. Seeing the white silica sands from up high gives you an idea of why so many people walk this route every day – 350 on average.

With the morning disappearing fast we get back on board and start the final cruise around the southern tip of Whitsunday Island before turning north towards Hamilton Island and home. It also gives us a chance to see Blue Pearl just one more time from the water as we cruise by slowly, struggling to make headway against the strong tide which rips through Fitzalan Passage.

Mooring up in Hamilton Island marina we clamber onto the pontoon after a perfectly relaxing couple of days with Mike and Nancy; the perfect hosts onboard a perfect yacht….if I use any more ‘perfects’ I’ll turn into a cat. What I’m trying to say is I actually relaxed for once and loved it!

Next time around my sailing skills will be adequate enough to take one of these beauties out for myself – maybe not around the world but definitely around the Islands of the Whitsundays. Why not try it yourself?

End of day location: Hamilton Island
Distance covered: 107kms on the water

Now I’ve spent nearly six months here in the tropical paradise that is Queensland and so far I thought I’d done particularly well at avoiding any contact with any of the dangerous critters that consider this part of the world their home. I’ve avoided being boxed by a kangaroo, nibbled by a shark and bitten by a spider or a snake – but then in my final few days on Hamilton Island I fell foul of a miniscule little creature known as an Irukandji.

Pic courtesy of: http://www.irukandjijellyfish.com/

Irukandji jellyfish are tiny and extremely venomous jellyfish that are in the tropical waters of the Queensland coast between early October and May, and which cause symptoms collectively known as Irukandji syndrome. Its size is roughly no larger than a fingernail of an adult’s little finger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Irukandjijellyfishsize.png

I was enjoying a post Christmas jetski session with some friends at a quiet beach on Hamilton Island and as I climbed off the back of the ski and onto the beach felt a small bee-like sting on my forearm, I didn’t think too much of it at the time as it disappeared very quickly and left the beach to head to a sports massage appointment I had.  As I arrived I noticed that my feet and hands were tingling slightly and before I started my treatment commented on the chain of events which had led to this – the member of staff immediately suggested that I get the symptoms checked out and within minutes had the islands security there to escort me to the doctor’s room, only a few hundred metres away.

I was feeling pretty hot and sweaty, had a headache and felt pretty sick too, together with pain in my lower back and a tightness in the chest and a really high blood pressure – all classic symptoms of Irukandji syndrome! This was not what I’d wanted at all and had caught me little off guard to say the least – I’m supposed to be relaxing in my last few days on Hamilton Island.

The doctor knew instantly what it was and straight away started the course of treatment to get me on the mend, I had a couple of injections which immediately took away the uncomfortable pain I was feeling and I slipped into a comfortable sleep after an hour or so, waking to say hello to a couple of friends who arrive to see if I was ok! Bre was there the entire time tending to me like a little Florence Nightingale!

Once I’d recovered sufficiently I was discharged that evening and allowed to go home to sleep the effects off and only really knew what had happened when Bre told the full story the next morning – I had been very lucky.

I’d had a minor brush with what can be a very serious jellyfish and has led to people being hospitalised for a number of days, my slight knock was enough to tell me that it’s not something to be messed around with and I really should have been wearing a full stinger suit, as it recommended at all beaches here at this time of year…even if you’re in the water for just a couple of seconds as I was!

This is what I should have looked like:

Stinger suited