Hi there people in Travel Tart land. Today, I’ve scored an interview with Ben Southall – who was the lucky winner of the “Best Job In The World‘ competition that was held a couple of years back in Queensland, Australia. This is where he had to be an ‘island caretaker’ for a few months!
This was such an outstanding success, that Ben is currently undertaking the Best Expedition in the World, promoting everything about coastal Queensland.
This is an epic kayak trip up the Queensland coast that will really test out the effectiveness of his sunscreen!
You can follow @BenSouthall on Twitter.
Here is our chat!
Ben Southall Talks about his Best Job In The World!
The Travel Tart: Hi Ben, thanks for taking some time out from kayaking up the Queensland Coast. Now I’ve done some great junkets in my time, but I must admit, you’ve scored the best one ever after winning the ‘Best Job In The World‘, and currently the ‘Best Expedition In The World’. It sounds like your life has been insane since! Do you have to pinch yourself some days and think, ‘Is this really my job?’
Ben Southall: Of course I do! Life is all about great adventures however big or small and its something I’ve been doing for the last decade…but this time someone is willing to pay me to go and have them! I genuinely feel lots of responsibility with the position I have and put in some serious hours working well after everyone else has gone to bed and before they get up in the morning. The Best Job and Best Expedition are all about promotion and publicity for a stunning piece of Australia so the job is very much PR through television, radio and online media. I run my own website, edit all my own movies, write my articles and then try and paddle during the day time! Its probably the Busiest Job in the World but I love it.
The Travel Tart: What was Ben Southall‘s life like pre-Best Job In The World, and what was the most unusual aspect of it?
Ben Southall: I’d spent 10 years travelling around Africa prior to Best Job. Having fallen in love with the continent in 1997 I slowly explored away from South Africa more and more until I got to the point where I had to see the rest of it. I decided to circumnavigate the continent in a Land Rover and spent a year driving around it whilst climbing the five highest mountains and running five marathons….all to raise money for charity. The website I ran whilst on the road was exactly the same as the Best Job required…and so that started!
The Travel Tart: The Best Job in The World promotion was a pretty clever initiative from Tourism Queensland – the concept sold itself, and with the internet these days, it didn’t take long to go viral. I think the exposure was worth gazillions in terms of publicity. I was wondering, who generated more exposure for Australia – yourself, or Oprah Winfrey? ;P (Ben’s audition video is below).
Ben Southall: Haha I wonder that myself. It was always a target for the team at Tourism Queensland to get the campaign featured on a major US network. When we got confirmation that Oprah was happening it was a major coup for all of us – suddenly 140 countries around the world would see Queensland. When the show was repeated that doubled, and then when she visited Hamilton Island in person the CEO was very VERY happy. In total we achieved over $500m worth of publicity…but I wouldn’t like to steal her limelight!
The Travel Tart: However, this job hasn’t been all roses for you. I read that you were stung by a jellyfish which is one of the occupational hazards of your job. How did the rate on the pain scale for you?
Ben Southall: Ooooo a pretty high score I think. The initial sting was only a three but the following eight hours were muscle-twistingly painful and hit high nine’s for sure! I’m glad I’ve been through it though so I can tell people about it 🙂
The Travel Tart: Cool! The only reason why I travel is so I don’t run out of dinner party conversations! So you must have a few! Anyway, firstly, a Pom wins the Best Job In The World. Then the Poms win the Ashes, and they’re about to clinch the number one ranked test cricket team. Has the world gone mad?
Ben Southall: Oh dear I didn’t think cricket would come into this interview…but I’m glad it has. My grandfather and mother are pretty cricket crazy and for twenty years all I heard was how badly England were doing against Australia. Now that the tables have turned and I’m out here to experience it I think the timing couldn’t be better for a Pom-hatrick do you?!
The Travel Tart: No way! It would be the end of the world as we know it! Anyway, are you becoming sick of the sun? Queensland’s winters are much warmer than England’s summers! I know, because I’ve been to the UK at the height of summer and it wasn’t that warm!
Ben Southall: I’ve always enjoyed the southern hemisphere where summers are really warm and winters just don’t feel real. The thing I did detest about the northern hemisphere is the lack of daylight during the winter. I can take the cold if there’s blue skies, but losing five hours of daylight a day just isn’t on as I like to live life outdoors.
The Travel Tart: Queensland has copped a hammering in 2011 – and scored a tonne of publicity for all the wrong reasons. Firstly all of the floods, and then Cyclone Yasi gave North Queensland a blow job they’ll never forget! Unfortunately, this probably scared off a lot of people from visiting. Since I live in Queensland myself (and I grew up in North Queensland), I know there’s no issue for visitors – because we want your money! What’s your view on coming to Queensland now?
Ben Southall: I’m sitting here writing this interview to you from Mission Beach, in the epicentre of Cyclone Yasi and I live in West End, Brisbane – one of the most flooded areas at the start of the year. The images that people see on the news are always going to be the ones that stick in people’s mind…as they do mine. But it really was incredible how quickly things recovered and got back to normal again. My road in Brisbane was open again 5 days later. Things up here in the north have taken a lot more of a knock and the damage is still visible in places but everywhere is open and the trees are green again (there are a few less so the view can be better even!). The anticipated damage to the Great Barrier Reef has been minimal. Having just dived 20 different locations in the last month I can tell you first hand that this reef has been here for 20,000 years and has taken knocks from cyclones throughout its lifetime but continues to thrive and grow. Queensland is back to looking its very best.
The Travel Tart: Is this gig for Tourism Queensland going to end any time soon? That’s because I want to poach your job!
Ben Southall: I’ll fight you for it! Not in the near future. I will continue to work very hard, be as creative as I can with promoting the state and hopefully stay out here for a while longer…my girlfriend is from Brisbane and a definite ‘keeper’!!!
The Travel Tart: What’s been the single thing that you have loved the most about Queensland?
Ben Southall: It has to be the winter. As I look out here from the balcony of Treehouse YHA in Mission Beach in mid winter sat in shorts and a t-shirt at 8am I have to slyly smile to myself. The climate of the Northern Hemisphere…I don’t think so.
The Travel Tart: I end up interviews asking where and when was the first time when you thought, ‘Hell yeah, I love travelling!’
Ben Southall: I can tell you straight away. Stood on a vast white sandy beach at the end of the Umtamvuna River near Port Edward in South Africa. Surrounded by the Indian Ocean on one side and friends with a braai (BBQ) and beer on the other. Perfection.
The Travel Tart: Awesome, thanks for your time Ben. I’m feeling like a braai and a beer myself!
More Ben Southall and Best Job In The World Stuff
For more info on Ben Southall‘s trip, check out islandreefjob.com, and see Queensland Holidays for more information.
Ha ha, The Travel Tart and Ben Southall have a sense of humour drier than a Pommy’s bath mat….
Ben was good value! Lucky bugger!