Follow Ben's adventures on Hamilton Island

Six months lounging on an island in the Great Barrier Reef was billed as the best job in the world and, when almost 35,000 applicants seemed to agree, the job advertisement was hailed as one of the most effective PR stunts.

A clean-cut British charity worker has been chosen as the ideal person to carry on a marketing campaign that has generated tens of millions of pounds in free publicity for tourism in the Australian state of Queensland.

Ben Southall, 34, from Petersfield, Hampshire, said that it felt amazing to be chosen to be the caretaker of Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. He won over the judges’ panel with his stunts, which included riding an ostrich and snorkelling in the Thames.

Tourism Queensland promised a A$150,000 (£74,000) salary and a rent-free, three-bedroom beachside villa in return for snorkelling and feeding tropical fish 12 hours a month.

“It’s amazing,” said Mr Southall,dressed in boardshorts and flipflops, on being told the news yesterday. “You think of a three or four-bedroom house in England and it has nice red bricks and is quite small but this house is a dream. It’s enormous and looks out over the Coral Sea.

“I stayed in a tent on top of my Land Rover while I travelled through Africa last year, so this is going to be a very welcome difference.”

Mr Southall arrived in Australia at the weekend to take part in a final selection round, which involved snorkelling, blogging and sampling the luxury hotels on the islands.

“We have had probably the most incredible three or four days of our lives so far,” he told The Times. “Just getting involved in the media has been an incredible challenge. It has been very testing. To go away now as the island caretaker for Tourism Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef is an extreme honour. I hope I can fill the boots as much as everybody is expecting. My swimming, hopefully, is up to standard.”

Mr Southall will also need to keep the soundbites flowing because, as the organisers admitted, the main aim of the role was to “promote, to a global audience, what the destination has to offer”. A spokesman for Tourism Queensland said: “The successful applicant will be required to report back on their adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane \ via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews.”

Mr Southall, who will report to Tourism Queensland, said: “I hope I can sell the reef as much as everybody is expecting.”

He recently completed a sponsored trek around Africa to raise money for disabled ex-servicemen and African farmers. During the trek he ran five marathons, climbed five of the continent’s highest mountains and tried to visit as many of the 180 sites where the Victoria Cross has been awarded.

His hobbies include running, climbing, scuba diving, bungee-jumping, mountain-biking and organising music festivals. In his application he said: “The most important thing to me in life is to have an exciting job that makes me happy, puts smiles on people’s faces and achieves challenging goals.”

On Mother’s Day he handed out daffodils and organised a cork bobbing contest before swimming in the Thames to promote his application.

His application video, in which he described himself as the “adventurous, crazy, energetic one”, was voted into the top 50.

He was selected to represent Britain in a final, where he went up against 15 other candidates, all from different countries.

For the final he had to give a series of media interviews. His blog explained that the local television and radio interest in his application had prepared him. At the airport he wrote that there was “another staged farewell to Mum and Dad before advancing to our departure gate”.

Mr Southall’s ability to handle the press left his fellow competitors in no doubt that he had the right skills for the job.

“His performance at the press conference has clearly demonstrated that he is totally up to the task,” the Taiwanese finalist wrote.

The campaign by Tourism Queensland has been rated as one of the 50 best publicity stunts by the PR company Taylor Herring. The competition attracted worldwide attention when it was announced in January — the perfect time to tempt the northern hemisphere with tropical beaches.

The organisers said that they received applications from every country in the world except Western Sahara and North Korea. They estimate that the free publicity has so far been worth A$110 million.

The organisers must be hoping for a romantic ending because Mr Southall has been allowed to take his Canadian girlfriend, Bre, with him.

As he noted of a nearby island: “Heart Reef — perfect for a proposal maybe?”

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