Now I know there’s loads of people out there who think that I’ve been on holiday for the last 10 months since I started the Best Job in the World, but even me the Island Caretaker needs to have a break every now and then.

So i’m off to my old hunting ground, South Africa and there’s a few different reasons I’m heading back to the country where I earnt my Southern Hemisphere Wings….

a) a couple of weddings first in Port Edward and one later on in Pietermaritzurg – Katie Vorster who I first met in 1997 when I came out to Port Edward and then my friends Patrick and Sarah who I met whilst travelling down through Africa in 2008 during Afritrex

b) to dive with sharks off the Aliwal Shoal and Protea Bank sites off the east coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal. It should be a good time of year to witness some of the Tiger Sharks and maybe even a Great White or two!

c) to enter and complete the Comrades Ultramarathon. I’ve been training as hard as I can whilst home in Brisbane and I’m hoping that I have enough practice km’s in my legs to carry me through to the finish of the Comrades in Durban. The course this year is 89.28kms long and is the ‘downhill’ and in most people’s eyes that the easy way……oh no it’s not! The constant smashing of the knee and ankle joints resulting from running downhill for up to 12 hours make it THE most difficult of the two I can guarantee that!

Here’s the route map and one of the profile showing the Big Five Hills! :

d) to present to a number of organisations around Durban all about the Best Job, and

e) hopefully take in a World Cup football game, ideally Australia v’s Germany in Durban

And I know I’m on holiday but I have the overwhelming urge to continue to blog about the experience but obviously I won’t be updating the www.islandreefjob.com website as it’s not Queensland related…but I have all of my cameras with me ready to record everything I get involved in.

Bring on the race, the sharks and the football!

Over and out for now

Ben

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.

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.

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:

So no excuses here I’m afraid I just haven’t had the time to be able to feed anything onto the site as I hoped I would and my periodic posts haven’t given you the insight I was hoping into the behind the scenes world of the Island Caretaker! Life has been incredibly good, chaotic and full-on ever since starting the job back in July and now that I’m almost at the halfway point there is some sort of routine to my otherwise abnormal existence!

Bre headed back to Canada for a member of her family’s wedding a few weeks ago and will be back out here in a few days time so we can get back to having the crazy adventure and fun we have in this particularly mad time in our lives. It’s easy to have the experiences by yourself but it means so much more when there’s someone special there to do it and remember it with you. See you at the end of the month Brester!

Since my last post here on the site I’ve been getting bang up to date with my diving qualifications and am almost all the way through my PADI Advanced diver course. I racked up 25 dives and all have been in different locations so there no getting bored with the same sights every time for me – Heron Bommie, The Cod Hole, S.S. Yongala, Wheeler Reef are all rated amongst some of the best in Australia and I feel privileged to be under the water in some of these locations and frequently have to pinch myself to realise it’s actually happening.

I’m typing this from onboard the Fantasea launch which is taking me across to the mainland where I’m joining up with the crew from catamaran ‘Emperors Wings’ where I’ll be for three days between the middle and outer reef taking in some more of the marine world which has hypnotised and keeps taking me back for more, I have eight dives during my time onboard and should return to Hamilton Island as a qualified Advanced Diver.

It’s something that a few years ago I thought I’d never do having lost a best mate to a diving accident back at the turn of the century but it made me realise that life is out there for living and if you don’t do these things you miss out for good…I am so glad that I learnt last year in Lake Malawi and thank you so much to Sandy from Aqua Africa for getting me through that terrifying mask-clearance session, I thought my days were numbered.

From there I head to Long Island and the Peppers Palm Bay resort which is another couples retreat – not that good as my girl is away in Canada still but the chance to get onto the water in a kayak or catamaran should never be missed and I’ll be out there as often as I can.

It’s then back to basics as I return closer to home and have two days camping and exploring Whitsunday Island and aim to reach the highest point, Whitsunday Peak, at 435m as bit of training for the Hamilton Island Triathlon at the end of November.

A little concerned about this as it’s my first multi-discipline event and will be in front of a big crowd  making it all the more important not just to turn up for the wooden spoon! It consists of:

• 750m Ocean Swim
• 20km Bike Ride
• 5km Run

I don’t have a problem with the running or swimming it’s just the bike ride so Steve from the gym on the island has kindly lent me his bike to train on but oh my god how Hamo’s hills kill you! I did do the ‘Run the Whitsunday Great Walk’ at the weekend, a 28km undulating track through the forest finishing in Airlie Beach, and now two days later feel fully recovered…surprisingly! The only thing that is suffering since I got this job is my fitness, having no routine has really knocked it back so I find I’m getting up earlier and earlier to train leaving the house well before the sun comes up but it does make a great way to explore a new destination when I arrive there.

My thoughts are firmly focused on what I’ll do after the Best Job has finished in January and I have a very important meeting with Tourism Queensland to discuss my next endeavour which is more than likely going to be an expedition to kayak the length of the Great Barrier Reef in on of these little beauties. Suffice to say there is still a huge amount of planning and preparation to be done and from previous experience (www.afritrex.com) I know that it won’t just happen overnight.

Hopefully my choice for next year's project

I will try to retrace Captain Cook’s route along the inside of the reef from south to north to utilise the trade winds which blow during July and August, the only feasible time to do it as the temperatures are bearable then. Several people have already expressed an interest in joining me for legs of this adventure and if you have any similar thoughts please get in touch – you never know!

As I pull into the harbour and start another fun-filled chapter in life may I wish you well wherever in the world you’re reading this from.

Ben

The pace of life at the moment is totally fantastic and everyday brings new and exciting things to do, one huge fear however is that by the time I blink it’ll all be over and the contract will have drawn to a close. Every so often I have to pinch myself and take a step back to check it’s all happening for real.

Spent the last few days filming with the Getaway travel show which goes out nationally throughout Australia and hit the airwaves on Thursday 13th August – a great idea to compare the host, Natalie’s job and mine. Best Job v’s best job. I win of course!

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Headed out to gain my first sailing qualification on the ocean around the Whitsundays aboard the yacht ‘Another Fiasco’ with the help of Explore Whitsundays and had an amazing time with Matt the skipper and my crew of Nick, Anthony and Ian – it holds me in good stead for the upcoming Hamilton Island Race Week which takes place at the end of August and if the rumour is true I’ll be sailing on board ‘Wild Oats‘ – an incredible Maxi yacht which has won the Sydney – Hobart and is owned by Bob Oatley, the owner of Hamilton Island. Hold your breath Ben – this one’s going to be mental!

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We spent a few days on Hayman (yes the place whose name I spelt wrongly in my first week on the job and got crucified by the press!) relaxing in the sunshine, snorkeling, bush walking to try and find wallabies and enjoying the opulent hospitality there.

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Today and tomorrow are days off, well as close as I can get – only a huge website update for both here and islandreefjob.com, a couple of phone interviews and an 800 word piece for The Observer newspaper by Friday night. Headed to Airlie Beach on the mainland for another dentist appointment and I hope they’ve sorted it this time for good….

Over the weekend I head south on the Queenslander train service to Gladstone before relocating on Heron and Wilson Islands for some real bush camping in tents…..5 * tents of course – you can’t expect me to back to normal ones just yet can you!?!

The weather’s been blustery and warm, the tan is starting to feel right again after a few pasty months in the UK and the ocean is becoming more like a playground as I try loads of new things – jetskiing, sailing, diving at night, snorkeling in rip currents in front of the house etc!

I’ve picked up the pace of life and feel it all fits rather well – I could do this for a long time you know!

Only 5 months left and counting. Time to start looking at the next project and getting things under way for my circumnavigation of Australia departing in the early part of 2010. Any ideas of good endurance challenges people??

Sorry for the delay in getting anything new onto the site, I have set myself the task of writing some new script for you tomorrow morning, in the mean time have a look at our first scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef when we descended to 10 metres to dive with some Potato Cod and Reef Sharks.

Its amazing how much today I take mobile phone reception for granted and when I loose it all normal functions, updates and blogging just disappear off the radar. It’s actually quite refreshing, life can continue without being tied to the keyboard and it gave me a chance to enjoy Lizard Island to the full. The downside though is this site has neither changed nor evolved in the last week and for this I can only apologise….so here I go!

After a few days on Hamilton Island and in the surrounding Whitsundays, Bre and I headed to Cairns and the north of Queensland. Its the furthest north we’ve both been so far on the trip and the change in temperature was really obvious as we left the plane and suddenly felt a rush of warm air as we left the plane, finally Bre may be warm enough in the evenings to not need to wrap up as though she’s at home in Canada!

I’d really looked forward to heading out to Lizard Island as so many people had recommended it, this is one of the Voyager resorts and by all accounts probably one of the most luxurious destinations we’ll visit during the next six months…plenty of real celebrities come here to get away from everything….people, internet, mobile phones – everything!

The flight we took on Hinterland Aviation over the outer ribbons of the Great Barrier Reef was awe-inspiring, we swept low over the coral cays with the deep aqua blues and sandy bottom really standing out, some of the little sandbanks are only exposed at low tide and you can really imagine parking off on one for lunch and a snooze, maybe sometime I’ll be able to do it but not this time. We made the final approach to Lizard and touched down on the runway, full of anticipation for the coming few days adventure….

Bliss, perfection and total utter spoiling…just some of the words which can only start to summarise what awaits you if you ever make it out to Lizard Island. This is one of those retreats that the rich and famous make it out to, its remote, there’s only ever 40 guests on the island at any one time and you feel like someone really special as the staff treat you with a very personalised touch, add to that the fact that it’s one of the most picturesque tropical islands I’ve been lucky enough to make it to and you’ll see why I’m pouring so much praise onto it.

There’s a wealth of things to do here, it not just the ‘sit on the beach and fry’ sort of retreat as there’s activities galore to experience; diving, snorkeling, sailing, dinghies for hire, bush walking etc. During our few days on Lizard we had a good go at most of them. The Cod Hole is a famous dive site on the GBR, famed for its huge Potato Cod which are so tame they actually accept food from the dive master and brush right past you in the process. As they power away from any threat the shockwave their acceleration creates can easily be felt through the water, my first ever experience of this which gives you an idea of their strength….don’t get in the way! I loved the dive here, the second of the day, which had given the tide a chance to drop offering some protection from the swell and surge of the outer ocean and allowing the clarity of the water to increase giving us amazing visibility of around 20 metres. We swam with Black Tip Reef Sharks, Trumpet Fish, Barracuda and Mackerel. The variety of corals here both soft and hard are very impressive – there’s other areas where I’ve snorkelled which maybe don’t quite come up to scratch with what I’d expected from the GBR but the Cod Hole truly delivers. Here’s a selection of images to try to highlight this, apologies for the lack of colour in these images – I only received the camera just before heading underwater and hadn’t changed any of the settings to suit the marine environment. Will do better in the future….

Still loaded and prepared from last weekend’s exploits up in Scotland at the LAMM; Jon, Paul and I left in the Colonel (my trusty Land Rover and home for all of 2008) on Thursday and headed down the A303 towards the west country ready for a weekend of ocean based activities.

There’s something great about going away on a mini adventure even if its just for a few days; the long drive, the camping, the little country lanes, the sounds and smells of the ocean and the countryside are all a welcome reminder that you’re somewhere different that needs exploring!

Six hours after we’d left we dropped down the final descent from St Keverne into the sleepy hollow of Porthkerris where Dave and Turkey live to find their perfect little world exactly as I remembered it….but this time with Turkey running the catering wagon, flippin‘ burgers, blending cheese and generally amusing the locals with his own brand of questionable humour!

Being able to take time out from a hectic lifestyle is essential and something I really don’t do enough of; its only when I get the chance to breakaway and head to one of the more remote parts of the country that I actually realise its good for the human soul to rest up, relax and let the sound of the ocean massage the brain into a trance like state – a one of the first real
opportunities to think about the job as the Island Caretaker.

Inside the head of me…..

Since May 6th back on Hamilton Island when Anna Bligh made the announcement that I’d won the job with Tourism Queensland life has been even more hectic than normal. I thought I used my days up pretty productively, planning a festival, plotting the next expedition and in between all of it trying to keep as fit as possible…but this has turned even my energetic lifestyle on its head.

Every day I talk to someone new, every day there’s a different person contacting me from a another country and its truly amazing to have the chance to speak to everyone of them. We have a chuckle at each others accents, we struggle to understand each other sometimes and very often the time zones of the world just aren’t taken into account as my phone rings deep into the night waking me as I dreamily ponder what the next few months will bring; adventure, the ocean and a vast amount of discovery.

As I count down the final days to my departure from these shores the last week has provided me with an interesting insight into just how the press can work, I have the deepest sympathies for some of the ‘real’ celebrities out there and can now understand how they have to watch everything they say just in case its taken the wrong way, let me explain….

Situation is this – I meet up with a good friend Ben Patterson on the way back from Scotland who’s organised a meeting with a lady from the Press Association. We take a few, photos on the beach where I used to go as a child on holiday as a bit of promotion for the tourist industry in the north east (Bamburgh, Northumbria), she asks me a question….

“What will you miss about the U.K.?”

I answer as honestly as I can…..Mum’s Sunday roasts, long summer’s days, music festivals – genuine answers to a genuine question.

However the way the Sun newspaper in the UK and several in papers in Australia decided to take the answer in a slightly different way and labelled me the ‘Whingeing Pom’ – brilliant and totally taken out of context. Oh you gotta love the media. Have a look here and here for my response a day or so later….yet more laughs!

Those good bods at Tourism Queensland are right behind me though and came back at the papers with their total support for me in a few articles which followed up on the story, a taste of things to come I think.

As I sit here in my hotel room, having just come from Talk Sport Radio where I was a guest presenter for an hour on Ian Collins show, I’m thinking about the amazing opportunity ahead and the incredibly exciting six months of adventure and experiences which lie ahead.

The clock is ticking and the final week here in the UK is going to fly by, I have two full-on days of promoting the BBC documentary (which is out on July 2nd, 9pm BBC1) to come next week, an evening meeting the Governor of Queensland and then two days to pack everything I need into my bags before hopping on a plane to the other side of the world again where I’ll meet my girlfriend Bre and move into the Blue Pearl residence under the watchful eye of the assembled world media once more! I cannot wait.

The limited details I’ve been given so far of the first six weeks of the job look jaw-droppingly exciting…diving at Cod Hole on Lizard Island being one of the obvious highlights as I try and dive as often as possible in an effort to get my Advanced PADI certification, I really want to dive on some wrecks and to do that I’ll have to pass another course but they’re all things which I look forward to …maybe with the exception of sitting another exam!

This week has been particularly busy with three full days of interviews and appointments, I’ve tried really hard to give something back to the younger people in my area by organising some presentations at local schools, visiting my old primary school where I went for a year at the age of 10. It was so amusing going back to Ropley School and seeing quite how its changed, the secretary, Mrs Price, is still there and very kindly showed me my excerpt from the year book of 1986 along with a very embarrassing picture which the children all laughed at as only they can!

My 20 minute presentation told them all about last year’s project Afritrex along with a little glimpse of what the Island Caretaker role will involve over the coming six months. Its amazing how different and almost nerve-racking it is presenting to 100 children….but they listened like mice and ooo’ed and ahh’ed in the right places as I showed them pictures of the African wildlife. A very rewarding experience all round.

On a bit of a roll I repeated the presentation to Liss Junior School this week, but this time there was the added pressure of addressing 250 children whilst being filmed by a French TV crew from the TV1 channel. It doesn’t get much tougher than this.

Nicholas and Arnaud are filming a short feature for a current affairs program which goes out late in July and for their take on the story had me swimming in the Solent, chatting with friends Paul and Rachel over dinner and even came with me as I recorded the voice-overs for a BBC program called Inside Out, which I guest presented and goes out in September. Its been a busy week.

I have to mention another local adventurer from the Petersfield area where I live, Tom Heal who together with his good friend Will Smith who leave the UK at the end of the year in an attempt to become the youngest team ever to row an ocean. Find out more and support them at http://www.atlanticrowyt.co.uk/

We spent an amusing hour together having some photos taken for Life in Petersfield magazine around the lake in our fantastic home town! Best of luck to them both with their fundraising and training. Arghhh hours on the rowing machine – my least favourite item in the gym.

Being my final weekend in the UK I’ve organised another farewell party at the Mill Tavern, which people are welcome along to if your in the area, and then the countdown really is on….

In a week’s time I’ll be flying out to Brisbane to start a new job

AND I CANNOT WAIT WAHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Back in 2009 during the Best Job in the World I flew from Hamilton Island to the centre of Queensland’s Outback and a fascinating town called Longreach. I was there to take part in a charity drive known as Angel Flight’s Outback Trailblazer. I had such a good time I swore I’d return.

My Afritrex expedition in 2008 saw me travel overland circumnavigating Africa in my trusty Land Rover, Colonel Mustard. Since then I’ve brought him out to join me in Brisbane so it was about he time he stretched his legs again on the open road.

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We hit the road together at 4am winding our way out of the city confines. The motorway to Toowoomba was beautifully quiet as we climbed over the Great Dividing Range that lifts us 700m above sea level. I’d never driven this way before and as the road passed across the Darling Downs the sun was just starting to show its head across the fog-lined valleys. It reminded me of those cool autumnal mornings back in the UK.

The drive out to Barcaldine, my destination for the night, tracks for over a 1000kms through Queensland’s Outback. I love driving huge distances, watching the landscape and agriculture change, stopping off to chat with the locals and counting down the distance to the finish line. 14 hours and 1,123 kms later the sun dropped behind the horizon, I pulled into the Iron Bark Pub car park to be greeted by a gaggle of Trailblazers already enjoying ‘a cold one’.

Ten days of Outback adventures lay ahead for around 40 vehicles, decked out in the sponsors’ livery and all on a mission to drive around 2,500kms on the “twelve river run” around Queensland’s outback. With 100 people from all walks of life taking part it was set to be a great fundraiser with a whole load of laughs along the way. Angel Flights Patron is Tanya Kernahan, one of Australia’s famous country singers. She launched this year’s event in Barcaldine with the cars all lined up outside the Tree of Knowledge

Over the next seven days we headed through some of the most stunning Outback scenery. Long open stretches of dust-funnelling dirt road, vast expanses of low bush trailing off into the distance, the occasional mud track and lots of  tarmac extending to infinity. No two days were the same.

Since the official end to the Big Dry, Australia’s ten year drought, the Outback has transformed from a red dust bowl into a succulent green landscape severed by creeks and rivers. The wildlife has come out to play too with Emus and Kangaroos bounding along the edge of roads, racing for cover at the last minute. It’s only when you get up high you see the distances and the scale of this space. Life is everywhere.

The daily format for the Trailblazer involves early starts, a short drive before a filling breakfast, another drive to our location for lunch and an afternoon drive in time for dinner! Drive, eat, drive, eat. Each of the towns we stop at have something very unique about them. Some are famous for their opals, some for their cattle, some for the most recent flood and some like Toompine, for their population of 4. Yes 4 people!

We meet some of the most hospitable people I’ve met in Queensland on the trip. School groups turn out to feed us, the local lawn bowls club to host competitions and the police even get involved with an impromptue road block. You see these communities don’t have a huge amount of traffic passing through them, apart from the occasional road train (at up to 56 metres long). So when 100 people arrive enmasse  it becomes a pretty major event. The highlight of all this fun and frivolity has to be a performance from the children at Quilpie school who one evening sing, dance and tap their way through an entire repertoire of songs after only three hours practice…and they rocked the place.

The Outback is famous for its watering holes. Not the ones the wildlife need to stay alive in the dry season, more the pubs that attract locals from far and wide after a hard day’s work. We stop off at a few along the way and each has its own personality and characters propping up the bar.

Along the way we stop at some iconic Outback tourist attractions, some of them wacky, some of them plain weird! The Cosmos Centre in Charleville has to be one of the best though. With clear outback skies and no light pollution their telescope can spy stars and planets way off in the distance and they operate sessions at 7:30pm on most nights. Well worth stopping in for.

Palm Grove Date Farm is another gem of a place. They grow figs, dates and have some amazing mud baths too utilising the artesian clay that lines the creeks here. It’s all good for the skin apparently! Ian and Nan Pike run their little shop and sell some true delicacies including their Sticky Date liqueur – have a shot! I walk out with dried figs, fig jam and of course a mud pack!

After a week on the road the convoy pulls into St George having visited some cracking locations, met some charismatic people and experienced some real Aussie hospitality. The event last year raised over $250,000 for Angel Flight and this year looks like it could surpass it with more vehicles and much more generosity all round.

Next year the event will take place in October and head north from Barcaldine exploring another area of this beautiful land.

Time to wash down the Colonel, clean the dust from my ears and dream about the next Outback drive.

Ben

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When I go for a run at sparrows-fart-early there’s already loads of people hitting the tarmac along the river. As I ride to work I’m overtaken by lycra-clad cyclists on their way to the local coffee-shop. When I jump in the pool at 6am there’s already swimmers churning up the surface of the water.

The climate here is perfect for outdoor training all year round, daylight hours are consistent throughout the year and there really is no reason to stay inside and play computer games or watch TV. I love it!

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On New Year’s Day I set myself five New Year’s Challenges for 2012:

• Adventurethon – on Magnetic Island
• Cairns Adventure Festival – marathon leg as part of a team
• Brisbane Marathon – Full 42kms around the city
• Solar Eclipse Marathon – Port Douglas in November
• Bridge to Brisbane – 10kms into the city

I headed north to the stunning location of Magnetic Island a couple of weeks ago for the first of these, the Adventurethon, a multisport adrenaline-filled tough man’s challenge.

On the same weekend Tough Mudder was happening in Melbourne, supposedly “THE Toughest Event on the Planet” – 20kms of obstacles and challenges! Oh how I laughed, Adventurethoners would eat Tough Mudders for breakfast as fuel for the day!

Try this on for size:

• 13kms Open Ocean Paddle
• 4.2kms Steep Hill Run
• 13kms Open Ocean Paddle
• 30kms Mountain Bike Ride (read as carry and run)
• 18.5kms Steep Trail Run

In November when I first heard of the event, I looked at the different disciplines  and thought “Sure thing I can do that, I’ve just paddled 1600kms in a kayak for goodness sake!”. Training didn’t happen as it was supposed to. If I’m honest the last time I had a paddle before the event was February, we’ll just have to see what happens!

The big day arrived and the weather looked great, almost too good. Clear blue skies, no wind and blazing sunshine throwing down 32 degrees of heat onto the course and my fellow competitors. As I wandered down the beach to my surf ski the pros were already in the water waiting for the gun. Balanced on pencil-thin skis designed for speed, not buoyancy. I’d chosen the safer option – a wide floaty craft that I could at least stay on top of. And then we were off, a rush into the ocean, a splash of paddles and the lead pack simply disappeared. It’d be a long day for me.

Although I’m a pretty competitive person my life doesn’t revolve around training like most of these guys. There were army dudes, fitness trainers, lifeguards and ultra-marathoners all taking part and they ALL wanted to win.

As I arrived at the beach for the end of Leg 1, the leader was already leaving on the return leg. He’d just smashed out a 5km run and had a good 30 minute lead already. Maybe I spent too long taking in the stunning views instead of concentrating on paddling hard, but when a turtle pops up next to you it’s hard not to stop and take it in!

The theme of the day for me was decided pretty early on. Pain was to be my escort for the rest of the race. I rolled my ankle running too fast down the rocky course and straight away felt the pain shoot up my leg, reminiscent of an identical injury a few year ago. Suck it up Southall this was never going to be easy!

I arrived at the transition area at the end of the second paddle leg, swap shoes, fill my face with bananas (from Queensland of course), slap on the zinc, grab my bike and attempted to ride down the beach. Bikes and sand don’t mix however, my tyre digs in and I almost go over the handlebars…maybe some off-road riding would have been good before entering this event Ben?

The MTB course is pretty extreme to say the least, any up hill usually involves carrying the bike as the rocks are huge and impossible to ride over. But the downhills are amazing, flat out fast, hair-raising drops down gravel tracks and through gullies. Magnetic Island is perfect for thrill-seekers!

I catch my friend and adversary Pat Kinsella during the bike leg. We came and scoped out this event a few weeks back together in the most torrential rain. With the sun shining and our bodies sore it only seems right that we stick together and pull each other through the mentally tough sections.

As we head out on the final leg, an 18.5km trail run around the island, my ankle was just about impossible to run on. Swollen, blue and the source of many a grumble, “Southall get on with it, we’ve got a race to finish” comes Pat’s supportive response.

This is where I had to dig in, grit my teeth and take each kilometre as it comes. We made our way up the same course we carried our bikes up a couple of hours before. Halfway up I felt a cramp taking hold of the leg - just able to walk on, i thought this is going to be hell!! As I lifted my head the sign says just that ‘Welcome to Hell”

An hour later we made it to the summit of the final hill. Pat and I snap a photo and prepare for the descent and final sprit along the finish straight. After 9hrs and 10mins we crossed the line thoroughly exhausted but SO happy. We completed the Adventurethon!

Not a bad time considering I hobbled for 3/4 of the race…until you compare it to the winner who finished in 5hrs 40 mins. Oh well, next year with some real training I may get a little closer.

Still beats the hell out of not-so-Tough Mudder

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Next week I’m heading south to relax, recoup and recover with a few days off at Gwinganna Health Retreat. No internet, no tv, no sugar, no salt. Just me, Sophee and a few good books….

Ben

Living in Brisbane most people think a decent dive trip away requires an entire weekend to make it worthwhile. Oh no it doesn’t I say!!

To prove my point, last weekend I set off on an 18 hour adventure to North Stradbroke Island, on the other side of Moreton Bay from the city.

It was a weekend of well overdue reunions…

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On September 12th 2008, I qualified as a PADI SCUBA diver whilst travelling around Africa during my Afritrex expedition. Nkhata Bay was the location on the banks of Lake Malawi, a crystal clear freshwater lake in the warm heart of Africa.

My dive buddy at the time was another traveller, Craig Letham, a Kiwi on the road for his own adventure. We went through three days together, got our dive certification, shook hands and thought we’d never see each other again.

On May 9th 2009, three days after being announced as the successful candidate for the Best Job in the World, I enjoyed two days rest and recuperation at Manta Dive Lodge on North Stradbroke Island. Finally after snorkelling and flying over the Great Barrier Reef, I’d have the chance to actually dive in Australian waters for the first time! Read about my first ever Aussie dive here.

My dive master for the day was (as I described him at the time) “a funny little man” named Dave Biddulph. In reality a fantastic man, a superb photographer and a bloody nice chap. We got on like a house on fire but again, thought we’d never see each other again.

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FAST FORWARD THREE YEARS – Craig has moved to Brisbane from New Zealand, Dave is still at Manta Lodge and I’ve decided to stay in Queensland. Personally I can’t think of a better reason to have a reunion!

Time is precious in everyone’s lives. Finding a free weekend is close to impossible. But old friends living on your doorstep should never become strangers so I organised a speedy weekend away to reunite those friendships.

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Brisbanites (that’s people from Brisbane and surrounding areas!) try this on for size …

Finish work at 5pm on a Friday

• Drive to Cleveland ferry terminal
• Jump on a ferry (we chose Big Red Cat but there are others)
• Catch the bus to the Manta Dive Lodge and arrive by 8pm
• Grab a bite of dinner and relax for the night
• Up early for two dives
• Back to the lodge to shower and pack
• Bus back to the ferry
• Drive back to the city (home by 3pm on Saturday)

A whistlestop tour? Yes. But if you’re looking for an opportunity to get underwater and blow bubbles with some amazing marine life and only have a day to spare, then this is the way to do it.

Manta Lodge YHA offers a real island style retreat so the pace of life is that much slower – we’re on island time baby! Evenings are spent meeting new friends, checking out the huge array of dive photos and hearing tales from below the surface. They live and breathe the ocean and have been diving the waters around North Stradbroke for years so know where to take you to find their local heroes. Dave takes some amazing photos too, here’s some from our dives together:

There is absolutely loads to keep even the most experienced diver happy from the bigger stuff like Tasselled Wobbegongs to stunning Harlequin shrimps. We had gone there optimistically hoping for Manta Rays but were too early in the season – they love the cooler winter water.

It really is a simple trip to do, head out of work at 5pm for the island and be back in the city by the Saturday afternoon. There are no more excuses!

Making the most of every opportunity,

Ben

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What a week it’s been! I’ve travelled the length of the state taking part in some ridiculously adventurous activities and ended it off with a trip to Sydney for a very special occasion, the launch of a new BBC series here in Australia.

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Skypoint Climb at Q1

Heights have NEVER been my thing. Not aged 16 for my first ever parachute jump, not last week walking around the top of Q1 or this week for the AJ Hackett Minjin swing in Cairns! NEVER.

Q1 is the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere and last month their latest vertigo-inducing activity was opened – the SkyPoint Climb. At 270 metres above the ground my mind was already getting the better of me as we stepped outside for the first time dressed in our gorgeous jumpsuits.

Strapped securely into our harness and suits we clipped onto the safety rail that runs around the entire building. This ensures if you lean right over the edge (which I reluctantly did) you don’t end up on the street below!

We’d chosen to do the sunset climb, leaving at 5pm (dependant on the time of year you do it) and it was well worth it for the views at sunset alone. This unique view high above the Gold Coast gives a vast panorama from Brisbane in the north, through the Hinterland and Springbrook National Park to Tweed Heads in the south.

The sun dips behind the horizon, colour leaves the evening sky and the neon strip of this famous location comes to life. Twinkling lights, the sound of life below and the crash of the ocean all a distant interaction as the wind and rawness of life at 270 metres takes over. This is one heck of a rush.

Now I can say that I’ve done it. Another vertigo-experience is ticked off my list and I don’t have to do it again. I can however highly recommend it to anyone who feels more comfortable than me at altitude.

Walks happen from 9am but if you really want a unique adventure head there for sundown.

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The Great Barrier Reef documentary

From the top of Q1 to the very depths of the ocean on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, my life this week has gone from pure fear to pure unadulterated joy at the vision that appears in the new Great Barrier Reef documentary, airing this weekend on Channel 9 here in Australia.

Over the last 8 years Richard Fitzpatrick and the BBC have been capturing all aspects of life on the largest living organism on the world – Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.
The series has already gone to air in the UK with over 4 million people tuning in to learn more about life under the ocean, and this weekend Australia gets to see it.

You’ll get the chance to glimpse the world floating by from a turtle-cam, discover sharks that walk on land, corals that fight each other, the most venomous creatures known to science and the largest green turtle gathering on the planet!

To give you a little taster of what to expect have a look at the movie below:

Have a great weekend and see you next week

Ben

It’s almost 18 months ago since I sat down with the teams from Google Australia and Underwater Earth (UE) to discuss the concept of taking Google’s Streetview underwater on the Great Barrier Reef.

Since then I’ve completed the Best Expedition in the World, my five month kayaking marathon from Lady Elliot Island to Cooktown. During that time on the water I worked extensively with Richard and Christophe from UE to capture stunning images and video of the marine life on the Great Barrier Reef which we’ve brought to you through www.islandreefjob.com.

A major sponsor for the concept, Catlin Insurance, have come onboard to allow this to happen. The project will focus on three parts:

• mega-fauna tracking to show how manta rays, tiger sharks and turtles move around the reef
• a deep reef survey which will look into the effects of climate change on this fragile eco-system, and
• this week the next chapter has been unveiled – Catlin Seaview

Everyone knows how good it is to explore the world using Google’s Streetview. Well they’ve taken the same technology, waterproofed of course, donned their wetsuits and headed to some of the most spectacular locations on the Great Barrier Reef. Click on the images below to explore for yourself.

So far the 360 images are just mock-ups of what will be produced but can you imagine virtual-swimming around a huge coral bommie, feeling the vertigo of a reef wall drop-off or tracking along the edge of Raine Island – turtle nesting heaven!

I’ll be getting involved with the team later this year to bring this technology to the Queensland Holidays website so you can check out our amazing dive sites before you book a holiday here to explore them yourself for real.

For now have fun swimming around the place I’m lucky enough to call my office.

Ben

Welcome to my blog if you’re visiting for the first time from Nuffnang. You’re probably here because we’ve dangled a lucrative carrot in front of you offering a $5000 dream holiday to Queensland and now you want to find out more.

**If you’re here as a regular visitor and have no idea what I’m talking about, then head over to the Nuffnang website.

What’s the deal you ask? Well the deal is this. Last year Tourism Queensland launched a new campaign called Vitamin Me. No idea what this is?

Well it can be found in all forms, but is best attained by experiencing exciting adventures, soaking up some arts and culture, consuming delicious food and wine, or enjoying some beautiful scenery and wildlife. Not surprisingly, the richest sources are found in Queensland.

All you have to do is compose a post on your blog explaining how you would boost your Vitamin Me levels if you won a $5,000 dream holiday to Queensland.

The competition opens today (24 January) and runs until 3pm (AEST) 10 February 2012, so get your posts in quick on the Nuffnang competition entry page.

Check out my video below to get inspired. And remember that we’re looking for originality and creativity, in the form of photos, video or words (however your blog readers prefer).

Happy blogging!

Back in August during the Best Expedition in the World the team from Underwater Earth and I headed out with one of Australia’s best dive operators, Pro Dive Cairns, for a live-aboard experience.

I had visions of cramped quarters, ships tack and over-visited dive sites prior to leaving having had that experience in other parts of the world. But after three days living, sleeping, eating and diving with 20 other people I have to say it was simply ‘bloody brilliant’!

Our skipper Warren took us out to some of the best coral reefs I’ve seen. Visibility was excellent, the marine life abundant and the coral was bright, colourful and extensive. Over the three days we visited numerous dive sites, had close encounters with turtles, sharks and bump-headed Parrotfish and went home smiling.

If you want a real Great Barrier Reef experience and love your diving then do yourself a favour, book a place, grab a camera and prepare to be blown away by this adventure.

Richard, Christophe and I were there to film as much of the underwater world as we could. I wanted to produce a YouTube movie about life on a single reef. What would we find? Would there be enough to create an exciting piece? What would turn up to the party?

Here’s the results of a single day filmed at Flynn Reef just off Cairns:

To find out more about this region of the Great Barrier Reef visit here

To read the blog post I wrote about Bump-Headed Parrotfish (possibly the ugliest fish in the world?) click here or to see the photo album from the trip click here

Pro Dive are a PADI 5-Star dive training school operating out of Cairns. Visit their website here

Personally it’d be a crime if the Great Barrier Reef wasn’t one of the Natural 7 Wonders of the World…but then I am a little biased of course!

On November 11th public voting closes to decide the New 7 Wonders of the World from 28 finalists. Australia has two of them, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef.

There are some incredible places that we’re up against including Table Mountain, The Amazon and the Maldives. All of which are pretty special places to visit and will get masses of support from voters…but we need your help to keep the Great Barrier Reef in the top rank.

To show how important every vote is, this week I headed out to Vlasoff Cay on the Great Barrier Reef with a polling booth, seven snorkellers, Tourism Australia and a film crew…to set up what could be the most remote polling station in the world!

Andrew Ridley, the co-founder of Earth Hour was there too. His work literally plunges the planet into darkness for one hour every March as companies and individuals turn off all their lights to to take a stand against climate change. As one of the Reef’s Ambassador’s his vote is well and truly behind the reef.

We got great coverage from the Australian media with channel 7,9 and 10 all running news pieces about the stunt. This morning I had to don my indigenously-painted wetsuit for a live cross to the Channel Ten news room in Sydney…all in the name of promotion of course!

So how can you help?

In order to cast your vote visit the New 7 Wonders of the World website by clicking here, choose your top seven (making sure the GBR is one of them) or alternatively you can visit their Facebook page and cast your vote here

As I draft this and continue to move north along the Queensland coast, I have reflected on the minor speed bump the expedition experienced during the past two weeks. While it has been a challenging time the light is glaring at me very brightly from the end of the tunnel – we’re back on the water and picking up the pace!

Since Sunshine took a battering from some wild weather during our stay at Lady Eliot Island, I have been working furiously to get the Best Expedition in the World back on track.

The BIG4 Cane Village here in Bundaberg has been our home for the last fortnight and I have to say a massive thank you to John and the team here for looking after us. The guys at the Bundaberg Slipway have become our co-workers and friends and yacht Sunshine is almost ready to become Operation HQ once again from where I’ll report as often as I can to bring you a snapshot of life on the Great Barrier Reef.

Since then I’ve been up to Heron Island and shot some incredible images with the crew from Underwater Earth, interviewed some of the great scientific minds working at the research station, been interviewed by radio and television stations from around the world and tried to keep fit by running the streets here.

Mum and Dad have continued their Queensland Road Trip along the coast and have been furiously blogging to bring you their story of life on the road as they explore the state in their Apollo Motorhome and document here on the blog.

Finally the Yellowbrick tracker will be moving in the right direction (north) and as we take photos, post videos and create blogs they’ll appear on the track exactly where they were taken – keep watching this page for the latest updates.

Being able to get back onto the kayak is something I’ve been itching to do and once we make up some of the lost ground I’ll be cutting my paddle through the waves hopefully alongside the migrating Humpback Whales that have already started to appear along the Queensland coast.

So my sincere apologies for a temporary break in transmission…rest assured we are eager to go and working twice as hard to create a wake and bring to life more reef adventures to inspire you all!!

Yours Expeditionally

Ben

Breathe in, breathe out, and exert a massive, “Pheeeew!” I’ve finally made it to 1770 – the launchpad for the Best Expedition in the World!!!

It’s merely a cricket’s lifetime away now. Next Saturday, while the Captain Cook Festival is in full swing, the crew and I will be kicking-starting our epic voyage of discovery. We can hardly wait!

But, I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. I might have escaped my CBD office, but there’s still a bit to get through while I’m ‘waiting in the stalls’.

International and domestic media are travelling to 1770 over the coming days to investigate, write up, and film Best Expedition related stories.

The similarities between Captain Cook and myself have been particularly enticing for the media. Click here to read the Courier Mail article.

Not only will I be following Cook’s route up the Queensland coast, I’m just as much of an adventure-hungry Pom as he was! I just happened to swap his HMB Endeavour for a state of the art Hobie Kayak, and his telescope for an ocean of modern marine technology.

Just to make sure I can pull this 21st Century challenge off, I’ll be doing some serious Hobie and ‘tech training’ this week. I want to make sure I know what I’m doing and have contingencies in place before I hit the open water.

I’m fairly sure I’ve packed everything the crew and I will need (and stuff we really don’t need). Solar showers, board games, expedition mascots, DVDs, Saya skincare, laptops, 4-months worth of clothing and enough dive gear to sink a ship – I’ve brought the lot…and then some. This is not back packing, this is not flash packing, this is the Best Expedition in the World!

Fingers crossed, everything will fit on the Sunsail support vessel, “Sunshine “, which is currently passing Yeppoon and on it’s way south. I visited Sunshine in the Whitsundays several days ago and kitted her out with a complex interweb of technology – slightly overwhelming stuff, but vital in order for me to run bestexpeditionintheworld.com from the middle of the Great Barrier Reef.

Mum and Dad have also been learning how to master new media technologies. They arrived in Brisbane last week to kick off their ‘Queensland Road Trip‘, which they have started photo-documenting and blogging about on the Best Expedition website. These ‘Grey Nomads’ will undoubtedly get up to some serious fun and mischief over the next few months. I look forward to catching up with them at different points along the coast and hearing ALL of the goss.

Between catch up points, my folks will be able to follow my progress (from May 21st) by taking the odd peak at the live tracking page of this website, courtesy of Yellowbrick. It will update my position every 15 minutes on a Google Map, and feature photo videos, photos, 360° panoramas, and blogs in exactly the same place they were created. Check it out here and join me on the adventure of a lifetime – the Best Expedition in the World!

Yours Expeditionally,

Ben