Sunday Times 2
‘Chief funster required’
View(s):Tourism Australia offers six dream roles for ‘best job in the world competition’
By Helen Nicholson
If you’re a jaded employee suffering from the Monday blues you may be considering dusting off your CV but how do you fancy applying for the position of a park ranger, outback adventurer or even ‘chief funster’? These are some of the roles on offer as part of Tourism Australia’s ‘Best Job in the World’ competition, with each position offering the successful applicant a six-month contract in the sun and a $100,000 (£67,380) salary package.
Island adventure:Duties in Queensland include protecting and promoting the state's plants and animals and patrolling the beaches of Lizard Island
The competition is being revived following the success of Tourism Australia’s campaign to find a ‘caretaker’ of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in 2009.
Briton Ben Southall beat over 34,000 applicants from over 200 countries to win the dream job, which required him ‘to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel, make friends with the locals and generally enjoy the tropical Queensland climate and lifestyle’.
But this time, there are not one but six dream jobs on offer, including an outback adventurer in the Northern Territory; a park ranger in Queensland; a wildlife caretaker in South Australia; a ‘lifestyle photographer’ in Melbourne; a ‘taste master’ in Western Australia; and ‘chief funster’ in New South Wales.
The job title of ‘outback adventurer’ is suitably vague but the role is accompanied by a long list of duties including getting ‘up close and personal’ with the wildlife, sleeping under the stars in a bush camp and soaring across ‘postcard-worthy’ landscapes in a hot air balloon.
The successful applicant will also be expected to immerse themselves in the indigenous culture, taste traditional bushfoods and ‘gaze upon breathtaking sunsets at Uluru’. Park ranger duties include protecting and promoting Queensland’s native plants and animals, along with patrolling the beaches and ‘checking the water temperature’. Applicants are required to have an ‘adventurous spirit, a connection with nature and a love of the outdoors’ and are asked to ‘leave only footprints’.
As ‘wildlife caretaker’ on Kangaroo Island in South Australia you’ll help to look after the eponymous kangaroos, swim with dolphins and sea lions, cuddle koalas and sunbathe with seals on the pristine beach at Seal Bay. The role is not for the faint-hearted though, as the job description states that you’ll come ‘face-to-face’ with great white sharks.
Meanwhile, those with a talent for photography and writing features can apply for the position of lifestyle photojournalist for Time Out Melbourne.
You’ll be required to photograph the city’s cafes and bars as well as major festivals, music events and tourist activities a little further afield, including surfing on the Great Ocean Road, skiing at Mount Hotham or meeting penguins at Phillip Island. If food is your passion you can apply for the role of ‘taste master’ in Western Australia, where you’ll be required to ‘eat your way around the state’, touring the best restaurants, pubs, wineries and breweries and mastering the art of wine and beer making.
There’s even a position entitled ‘chief funster’ in New South Wales, where you’ll live like a VIP in Sydney, reviewing festivals and events.
The lucky applicant will travel the state as a social media commentator, appearing at all the major tourism launches, PR events and industry functions. They’ll also get to work behind the scenes of the Sydney Festival, Mardi Gras and Vivid Festival, and the spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks on Sydney Harbour.
Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said: ‘We’ve taken one of the most successful tourism campaigns in recent times – ‘Best Job in the World’ – and made it bigger and better by coming up with a competition which represents our breathtaking landscapes, our unique wildlife, great food and wine and, of course, our huge sense of fun.’
© Daily Mail, London
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