Australia relaunches 'Best Job in the World' campaign - this time with SIX jobs

by Dominic 06/03/2013 02:00:00

If you're thinking about the best way to spend a year out from the grey world of the UK, there are few better options than a working holiday visa for Australia and, if you're looking to go soon, why not apply for one of the best jobs you can get anywhere?

A couple of years ago Tourism Australia launched its first 'Best Job in the World' campaign, to be the 'caretaker' on Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, a paradise-like tropical island where the duties included snorkelling, surfing and generally just relaxing.

Naturally, the position scraped a couple of applications but it was Briton Ben Southall who beat out 34,000 other applicants from 200 countries to secure the gig.

Ben did such a good job that he's since secured a position as Tourism Ambassador for the whole state of Queensland.

And now Tourism Australia is relaunching the campaign, but this time there are SIX positions available, here's Ben to explain:

Relaunched campaign - bigger and better

So, this time there are six, that's right SIX jobs available: lifestyle photographer in Melbourne, Outback adventurer in the Northern Territory, park ranger in Queensland, taste master in Western Australia, wildlife caretaker in South Australia and 'chief funster' in Sydney.

Which of these is the best remains to be seen but all are guaranteed to blow your mate's 2 weeks in Malia out of the water as a decent holiday and put the one kid who went to your school with a decent accountancy job to shame.

Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia, said the scheme was being reopened in the hope of bringing even more working holiday makers to Australia.

"The value to the economy [of working holiday makers] is good but I think the fact that these kids work and holiday and get deeply into regional Australia is really important," said Mr McEvoy.

"Capital city tourism has been going for a while but regional Australia has been struggling for a while and now we're seeing it bounce back."

Ready to give it a shot?

If you want to apply for one of the best jobs in the world, all you need to do is complete an application form and upload a 30 second video explaining why you need the job.

Given there was 34,000 applications for one job last time and there are six this time PLUS the massive success of Ben's campaign, you might be in for a little competition so you should probably steer away from words like 'banter', 'top laugh', 'messy', 'bubbly' and loads of other words you see on Facebook profiles in your video.

Any working holiday in Australia is almost guaranteed to be one of the best years of your entire life but you could lock that in.

"I didn't know if I was going to be diving or skydiving or cooking or bushwalking and I did all of them," said Ben.

"It's one of those things where you've just to go for it and see where it takes you."

Ben might be right but if you really need more encouragement to apply for a job that forms the bulk of most people's day dreams, there's also a six month employment package paying you AU$100,000 (£67,400) for your 'trouble'. Closing date is 10 April.

- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

British granddad wrestles shark on holiday in Australia

by Dominic 21/01/2013 14:41:00

Plenty of people head Down Under for a variety of reasons: the sun, the surf, the beer and the barbecue are just some of the most stereotypical reasons for a holiday in Australia. However, few go to Australia with the intention of coming face to face with a shark.

We've written a few times in the past about the ridiculousness of shark tourism and the insanity of anyone who thinks it'll make for some 'top banter' to jump in the sea with the most finely tuned predators the world has ever seen.

But what are you supposed to do when the sharks come to you?

62-year-old Paul Marshallsea from Merthyr Tydfil in Wales was trying to enjoy a barbecue on the beach (as you do) in Queensland when he heard cries of 'shark' coming from the beach.

It turned out a 2 metre long dusky shark had decided that it fancied a nibble of one of the many children playing in the surf.

Instead of screaming like a girl and running to safety like most sane people would have done, Mr Marshallsea waded out into the surf and WRESTLED the shark:

He should have just legged it

Dusky sharks can be extremely dangerous to humans - especially when provoked. Grabbing it by the tail and dragging it backwards definitely counts as provocation - especially in a shark's book where breathing too loudly counts as a mortal insult.

"When I got the shark to just over knee deep he turned on me and just missed me with a bite," said Mr Marshallsea who clearly thought the shark might have thought it was a bit of a laugh at first.

"The shark nearly took my leg off in a split second - it was that quick.

"Where this shark actually came ashore, it is shallow for about five or six yards, and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there - it could have been very nasty.

"My instincts took over and I just grabbed the shark by the tail."

All heroes are crazy

Despite almost being bitten in half for winding up a monster, Mr Marshallsea isn't even put off by the thought of sharks, cementing the notion that he is actually literally insane(ly awesome).

"I know it was dangerous but it almost looked beautiful," he said, "you have got to have respect for a beautiful animal."

A spokesperson for the Australian coastguard said "we don't recommend manhandling sharks," in the most obvious statement ever, although he did add "but this gentleman did a great job".

This brings us to our last point:

Don't mess with sharks!

If you've got an insane desire to see some sharks, do it in an aquarium or watch Jaws or just put your hand in a blender for a few minutes, it's all the same thing.

If you just can't help yourself from doing insane things, do some that won't get you killed like skydiving or OZ Balling or, if you need to be in the water with some incredibly finely tuned hunters, do it with some who haven't got a taste for man flesh: dolphins.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

General | Videos

Find your own opal gem in Coober Pedy

by Stephanie 01/02/2011 13:55:00

Have a go at mining in Coober Pedy and
see if you find a sparkling opal.

Over 70 per cent of the world’s opal is chipped out of the ground in Coober Pedy, so if you are keen to have a go at finding your own gem (and it’s easy!) head out to South Australia.

Opal was discovered in 1915 but it wasn’t until the 1960s that hundreds of enthusiastic young men from Europe headed to Coober Pedy to mine small parcels of land with the hope of striking it rich.

One miner certainly did! The largest opal in the world was found in the town in 1956.

The “Olympic Australis” weighs 17,000 carats (3450 grams and is valued at AUD$2,500,000! It is housed in a special security safe at Altmann & Cherny’s showroom, 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, and you can see it during showroom hours.

After decades of mining the opal fields are covered with mounds of debris from prospecting shafts and the hills are a warren of underground dwellings – it looks a little bit like the surface of the moon.

Over half of the town’s 4,000 or so residents live underground with homes that range from one-room hand-dug bedsits to rambling subterranean mansions with swimming pools and fancy fixtures.

In summer, when outside temperatures can reach a sizzling 50˚C, these underground homes keep cool (around 22-26˚C), while in winter the homes are warm without the need for artificial heating. You can even stay at an underground hostel in Coober Pedy.

Opal mining is pretty good fun, and you can try your hand at it by taking the Down ‘n Dirty Opal Tour. On the tour visitors are given hard hats, torches and hand picks and a chance to hack at the walls of the Quest Mine to find opal.

And when you do find it, the rivers of light are unmistakable.

- Australian working holiday visa will allow you to work and travel your way around Oz!

General | Places to visit | Videos

Melons just smashing

by Stephanie 19/08/2009 15:24:00

There is a small town about 300km west of Brisbane, Queensland, that holds a bizzare festival every two years.

For four days the little town of Chinchilla (and visitors) ski, bungy, spit, eat, slurp and smash their way through as many melons as possible. And in most creative ways.

Chinchilla is the melon captial of Australia, producing a quarter of the countries melons, and to celebrate almost everything imaginable that can be done with the fruit is given a go. Melon cocktails and pip spitting are some of the tamer exploits, moving to the more full-on events.

Take melon skiing: A half of a melon is stuck on each feet, and a rope drags you along on a tarp laced with slippery melon pieces. Some get further than others.

Or there is the melon iron man event, melon bungee, melon bullseye, pip spitting and melon tossing, and a real headache ... melon smashing.

Get a really hard head, smash it on to as many melons as you can in a minute and you have yourself possibly the stupidest reason for a headache. John Allwood, a melon picker, broke his record in melon smashing earlier this year in Chinchilla.

In 2007 he smashed 40 melons in one minute, but this year the 29-year-old cracked 47 with his noggin. All chances to officially challenge his record will have to wait for the Chinchilla Melon Festival on 17 - 20 February 2011.

Meanwhile, there is time to perfect your melon skiing technique.