Where on earth do I start this blog? It’s been such a busy weekend down here on the Gold Coast and it’s all because of one of Queensland’s most popular sporting events is happening here – the Gold Coast Marathon.

Last year I entered the half marathon but this year I thought I’d step up a level to the full 42km marathon on Sunday. Having just come back from South Africa where I ran the 89km Comrades I knew I could do the distance but I thought I’d try and beat my personal best time of 3:47 set back in 2006 at the London Marathon.

I left Brisbane on Friday morning and drove down the coast ready for another energetic full-on weekend of activities; first appointment being the Gold Coast Marathon Gala Dinner. As a Tourism Ambassador I’ve been promoting this weekend’s running festival in different countries to try and attract as many people here as possible and the dinner acts as the official start to the weekend.

It’s a source of great motivation too with inspirational images, movies and talks from some of Australia’s best known runners and is attended by the likes of Pat Carroll and Rob de Castella (two famous Australian 2:10 marathon runners in case you didn’t recognise them!). Lee Troop is one of the speakers, has attended the last two Olympics and hopes to get to the next one. I feel full of drive and optimism now for my own race on Sunday!

Today Show

The alarm clock thunders through my head the next morning at 5am and I wonder what on earth the fuss is all about…oh yes I’m doing a live broadcast as part of Channel Nine’s coverage of the weekend! Emma, Beth and Mary from TQ have arranged for me to go on-air with Emma Freedman during her weather crosses on the show and it all takes place down at Sea World. We’re joined there by the characters from Sesame Street and have loads of fun watching jetboats and helicopters race around!

Q1 & QDeck

Whilst I’m down here I thought I’d try and fit in some of the must-do’s too and Q1 was high on that list as it’s the highest residential building in the world. It’s the tallest building by far on the Gold Coast towering above everything around it at 322 metres high and perched at the 230m mark is QDeck where there’s a restaurant and bar…plus of course cracking views both up and down the coast. Even the lift is pretty amazing as it whisks you up 77 floors in just 43 seconds…so fast that my ears popped on the way!

My evening is a much more relaxed affair in preparation for the big race tomorrow, I’m staying at the Marriot hotel and decide to order a fat pasta meal and a movie to fall asleep to. I always struggle to fall asleep the night before a big race and finally doze off hours after I intended to…

Gold Coast Marathon

I whip open the curtains my first look is up to the heavens – yes the stars are out which means when the sun finally comes up it’s going to be a clear day! I had visions of wind and rain which help no-one on a day like this. If records are going to tumble then conditions need to be good.

Just after 5:15am we arrive at the corporate section of the race start area; I have a job to do before the big one and that’s an interview with the local radio station, Sea FM. Once that’s out of the way I go through my pre-race preparations – vaseline between my toes and taping up my nipples!

The start area is alive with people, the Japanese contingent is big this year with over a thousand people having made the trip from their little island all the way here. The countdown starts and then just as the sun injects some light and warmth into the chill morning air we’re off….I’m running again and I love it! I’ve trained and run in a few different countries throughout my life but I can honestly say that the view across the beach to the ocean this morning is one of the most beautiful and motivating I’ve been lucky enough to witness. It certainly beats training for the London Marathon back home during winter!

I’d thought early on about going for a fast time, my previous best was 3:47 minutes set a few years ago in London and I’ve decided that today was the day to try and beat it. As I came around the last corner of the 42km course I spotted the timing clock reading just under 3:30 minutes and made a final dash to the line finishing in 3:27 mins – 20 minutes faster than my previous best! Awesome news and well worth the aching legs afterwards. The evidence is here

No sooner had I changed out of my race gear than it was back to work. Tourism Queensland Korea have brought across a group of children across to take part in one of the other running events on this weekend, the 2km Junior Dash. Eight of them have made their first trip to Australia and it was cool to be able to sit with them and hear their stories of their own races. I told them a few about the Best Job and their eyes all lit up when I showed them my finishers medal as it was much bigger than theirs. Maybe one day they’ll come back and get their own

I love gadgets and my new Garmin watch allowed me to record my route and times which you can see below or click here for more detail:

Two more interviews before I could retire for the day, one with a Korean running magazine and then a live web-cast with the Gold Coast marathon team! The fun never stops

Balunjali cultural tours

The last thing my legs wanted to do at 6am the day after a marathon was leave the comfort of my warm bed…but when the offer of spending a Monday morning paddling around the Gold Coast waterways was offered I couldn’t refuse. I’ve had some pretty grim Monday mornings in my life; recovering from the weekend’s hangover, heading back to my office desk or working in a garden gnome factory as I once did…I honestly, truly did!

There are kayaking operators up and down the coastline of Queensland all offering the chance to get out onto the water in pretty stable boats exploring the differing coastline from here all the way up to Cooktown in the north. Balunjali do it in a way that I’d not yet experienced – integrating the indigenous side of Australia’s history into the entire experience.

The minibus and trailer pulled up outside the hotel with Mark and Josh onboard ready to whip me and the other passengers out to The Spit where we’d launch the boats. The morning was just about perfect with sunshine and a light breeze and we unloaded the kayaks from the trailer and down onto the sandy slipway across the water from Wavebreak Island. The sit-atop kayaks are so simple to use; wide, balanced, floatey and with loads of storage space so anyone can just jump onboard for the first time and feel confident. Josh’s family are the traditional owners of the land here and their history goes back hundreds of years giving him a complete understanding of the way the earth, water and creatures of the area work together. Having the input of someone as knowledgable as Josh makes Balunjali stand out as a ‘real’ Aboriginal experience and as the day unfolds we learn lots more…

As I dipped my toes in the water for the first time I flinched slightly at the temperature…and then remembered this is the coldest its likely to get all year – toughen up Southall! Our group of 11 paddled our way across the seaway and fifteen minutes later had arrived on Wavebreak Island, a man-made sand bar that protects the Gold Coast shoreline from the heavy winter swells which can pound the coast. The offer of a snorkel came next and I suppose I considered myself a bit of a Barrier reef snob, you know what it’s like – once you’ve seen the best nothing else really comes up to the mark. But I was taken aback and pleasantly surprised by what I found beneath the surface.

I took as slice of bread down with me and the sheer number of fish was awesome…bream, small parrotfish, yellow pufferfish, flute fish and even a couple of batfish. I’m glad I took my camera with me and I even had them eating out of my hand. Well it was in the job description for Island Caretaker…FEED THE FISH!! The chill of the morning swim was reversed by the spread of traditional Aussie food laid out for us by the kayaks; Lamingtons, Damper bread and Anzac cookies – perfect to get the blood flowing again!

Our next stop was just across the water to South Stradbroke Island the home of the elusive Golden Wallaby – something I’d never even heard about but was keen to track down. Josh would be the man for the job here as he has the knowledge necessary to track and spot them in the bush. As a group we followed Mark and Josh through the wooded area to a clearing where Josh carried out a traditional ceremony using white ochre which he wiped across our foreheads, hands and feet to cleanse us. And then we were ready. Off on a Wallaby hunt…but with cameras not guns.

Their tracks were all over the place, easy to spot in the soft sand with the distinctive two long rear feet and one tail-trail but all appeared at least a few hours old..and then Josh was off. He’d spotted something in the distance and we all waited, crouching down being as quiet as possible. Then in the distance we spotted it…but a normal, bog standard Wallaby not the special Golden one which can only be found on South Stradbroke – this 22km long sand island, the forth largest in the world. It raced towards us as Josh had moved all the way around behind it and driven it through the bush towards us…in a second it was gone but just enough time to snap a quick photo.

We continued our walk across the island until we’d completed a 360 degree loop and found ourselves back at the launch beach, our kayaks obiediently waiting on the sand. As we paddled out into open water I glanced across at the city skyline in the distance and realised this is a pretty unique tour and experience. 10 minutes drive from Q1 and I’m here learning about Aboriginal culture in the bush tracking wildlife. My short half day adventure is just one of a range of options from one to three day trips during which everything is done in a traditional way. Totally amazing and a must do if you’re staying down here…ever!

Time to let the body recover now I think…

Ben

Thursday

Tourism Queensland have launched a new competition called ‘Sunshine Exchange‘. If you haven’t played it before then head there now and guide KoKo The Koala or PoPo the Panda along the course collecting as many points as possible. You could win a family exchange with a family from Shanghai or some travel vouchers.

Peter Lawlor the Tourism Minister launched the campaign in Queens Street Mall, Brisbane and I went along to offer my support…and to have a go of course!

Friday night

There’s a new bridge been built here in the city called the ‘Go Between‘ bridge – not the most inventive name I know but hey it’s a chance to have a party isn’t it! The bridge officially opens on July 5th to road traffic so before that happens the Brisbane City Council closed it off, built a stage and invited some local bands to come and play. I went along and had a superb time with some friends listening to the likes of Angus and Julia Stone, Josh Pyke and the aptly names Go-Betweens (apparently they were big in the 70’s).

The night went off with a bang with a couple of thousand people attending and everyone seeming to be in good spirits, voices and moods! Shame that is has to be turned back into a road next week – would be a great venue for future concerts!

Saturday night

Last week my team England managed to hold onto victory against Australia and won 21-20 in the rugby union game they played at Stadium Australia in Sydney….well done boys! This week the Wallabies travelled to Brisbane to play their next test against Ireland at the Suncorp Stadium and I really couldn’t resist going along to watch the game.

I’ve been to the Suncorp Stadium before and it’s a awesome arena in which to watch a big game like this one. My last attendance was back in March when I saw the Socceroos beat Indonesia in their World Cup warm up games with around 20,000 other people. This time there were 45,000 fans all dressed up in green for the Irish and gold for the Aussies. The atmosphere was electric with singing, shouting and cheering…and not a vuvuzela in sight thankfully!

Bruce Wallace from TQ and I joined the thousands of other people on the march from the city to the stadium, I love the pre-match barracking that always goes on between teams..and the Irish seem to do it better than anyone else!

The game itself left a lot to be desired…well the first half was good with the lead changing hands several times, but the second half seemed as though both teams had gone to sleep. The final score was an Australian victory at 22-15.

Tomorrow I’m heading out onto the water for some kayaking and I can’t wait…

Ben

As soon as I’d landed and thrown my clothes in the washing machine it was straight back out to meet and greet the team from Channel News Asia; Amelia the producer, Sophian the cameraman and the presenter Tim.

They’re over from Singapore to film the final installment in a series entitled “I get paid to do what I love” that features people who have great jobs, which they thoroughly enjoy, and mine qualifies!

Over the course of the next three days I take them around some of the sights and activities which southern Queensland has on offer and here are just a few of the highlights:

Riverlife Outdoor Activity Centre – based right in the centre of the city Riverlife has become an institution and offers so many different activities you’ll never get bored. With Tim fresh out of the office it was a little harder than I ‘d hoped to get him into the Island Caretaker’s lifstyle and trying out what was on offer.

I did manage to get him onto the water with a little bit of persuasion from Amelia his producer and into a kayak…although you can see from the photos that he didn’t do too much work – in fact I ended up towing him up the river whilst he read the newspaper!

Once we dried off it was time for activity number two, abseiling. But this time Tim was nowhere to be seen…where had he gone? Come on you’re meant to be enjoying this and taking part! Now I’ve never particularly liked heights so the thought of lowering myself off the cliffs at Kangaroo Point wasn’t something I raced to do…but life is all about taking on your fears and this was no exception!

Blair my instructor had setup all of the kit at the top and once Sophian the cameraman was ready I put on the harness and prepared to lower myself over the rather high edge. Keep smiling Ben – you’re on camera here! Once I’d conquered the edge and lowered myself far enough down to become horizontal it was all a little easier and I made my way to the ground below….what?? You need me to do it again? Oh you’ve got to love the world of television!

Story Bridge Climb – With my temporary fear of heights conquered it was time to test it out again with a rather different form of altitude-induced giddiness. The iconic Story Bridge spans the Brisbane River between Kangaroo Point and Fortitude Valley and a walkway allows people to walk over the superstructure giving unbeatable views of the city surrounds. As the sun drops out of the winter sky and beyond the horizon the sound of the traffic far below is lost as we all stand there and soak up the moment together. I’ve done this twice now and I can promise the experience doesn’t fail to loose its appeal.

Cloudland – The is one place to take a film-crew for dinner is you want to impress them and that’s Cloudland. It really is unique in Brisbane and probably Australia. Based on four levels this super-club has a fully retracting roof for those sultry nights, a huge white marble bar downstairs and then upstairs a crazy bubble bar. The place is designed to the eyeballs and has so many cool/strange/bizarre/interesting corners and design features. Well worth a look if you’re in the area.

Tangalooma Resort – The life of an Island Caretaker of course revolved around the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef but to highlight the lifestyle in a single day we had to head a little closer to home – Moreton Island is only 90 minutes away from Brisbane by boat. We all headed across Moreton Bay and soon the familiar sight of Tangalooma resort came into view. Once we’d tied up, Henk the manager was there to meet us and told us of our busy day’s activities. First stop the drive inland to ‘The Desert‘ for a spot of sand tobogganing. We had great fun flying down the sandy slopes and I even remembered to keep my mouth closed after eating half the dune last time around when I was here with Bre last year. The vast expanses of white sand really are a sight to behold and the mainly Asian market who accompanied us up there loved every second of it.

No time for resting though as the afternoon had more fun lined up with an ATV bike ride up around the off-road course filming some of the ‘normal’ activities I get to do in my job. As the sun dropped out of the sky once more there was time for one more activity before heading back to the mainland – feeding the dolphins! Even though I’ve done this before the feeling of hand feeding these incredible creatures just doesn’t get any more fascinating. The one thing I learnt this time was that in the past the dolphins have actually brought gifts back to the marine biologists who feed them including fish and eels which are now kept in a preserving tank! How cool is that?

We head down to the Gold Coast for the next couple of days…

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary – Having been restricted to mainly the islands during the Best Job I hadn’t been down the coast to some of the really amazing wildlife sanctuary’s and a visit to Currumbin was well overdue. The place is huge covering roughly the same area as the theme park Movie World and really accessible with wide open spaces filled with some of Australia’s best known animals. But there are other things going on behind the scenes which we took time to film, the introduction of a new animal hospital which has recently opened adds a new, educational side to the sanctuary and one which is essential for the local community too.

Jonathon (CEO) and Andrew (Vet) showed us around and explained that how the hospital has be such an important addition to the local animal welfare community with the RSPCA and other organisations bringing their injured wild patients to the hospital for treatment. They have around 30 cases arriving everyday. Their most common casualties are the Rainbow Headed Lorikeets who fly at ridiculous speeds but unfortunately sometimes into buildings and cars. One of their more unusal patients is the Echidna which we met and was run over by a car resulting in a broken rear leg. Poor thing and with all those needles it looked even more sorry for itself!

The sanctuary itself was full of people all enjoying and learning about Australia’s wildlife with shows, demonstrations and even a mini-train which takes you from area to area past the too-chilled-out kangaroos, the slightly odd emus and onto the aboriginal dance show. Now I’ve come to realise that as soon as I go anywhere near one of these I am instantly recruited to dance…I have two left feet and can’t!! Always good fun for everyone watching, not so good for me.

As we leave the sanctuary I have to show the crew the beach here at Currumbin. I mean it’s a perfect winter’s day, it’s the weekend and the surfers are all out on the last few waves of the day so hopefully we can pick up some tips for the morning as our last activity is exactly that….

Surfing with ‘Go Ride A Wave’ – As the alarm rings I realise that the late night sat up watching the FIFA World Cup may not have been such a good idea as I’m exhausted and ready to sleep some more…but as I look out of the window I realise that the surf actually looks superb through the window and not being someone to waste a moment I head down to the beach to meet the crew and Sam our instructor for the morning’s endeavours.

I’ve surfed a few times before but never to any sort of decent standard and as we kit up and head out the waves look particularly destructive…it’s low tide, there’s a sandbar right in front of us and the waves are crashing down onto it…could make the paddle out interesting anyway!

Tim and I have a great time getting smashed by the waves, swallowing litres of the Pacific Ocean and emptying the sand out of our eyes/ears/nose and before we know it the lesson is over. But like every surfer knows…just one more wave!

Job done…

It’s been a superb couple of days into which we have crammed as much as we can to give the crew from Channel News Asia and idea of exactly why it is called ‘The Best Job in the World’ and enough material for them to produce their 23 minute episode as the season finale of their program. Greg transports us all back up the coast to Brisbane where the crew jump on-board their flight back to Singapore and I head home to unpack, wash and start to get used to life in Brisbane for more than a ten day period. I haven’t had that since moving here in January!!

Once the program has been edited and is ready to go to air I will make sure I put it up here for you all to see!

Over the next few weeks I intend trying out lots of the local attractions around the area and reporting the experiences all back here to the blog for you to read about. On top of that there’s the Gold Coast marathon looming large on Sunday 4th July which I hope I’ve done enough training for and of course planning my expedition ready for next year.

Life continues at the usual crazy pace…

Oh one more thing before I go, if you haven’t seen my new series on National Geographic that has been aired worldwide over the last few weeks then you can get onto this website and download them all…they make the perfect present for someone you really don’t like!

DOWNLOAD THEM HERE

Over and out

Ben

The entire whirlwind journey – from the moment I stepped foot on Australian soil, which happened to be my birthday, to seeing the awaiting global media as we arrived on Hamilton Island, being the first to step off of that plane and wave to the entire world, the dinners, the friendships, the nervousness, the suspense, the extreme exhaustion, the jolts of adrenaline, the moments of sheer ecstasy, the moment of devastating disappointment, the realization of the end being near – experiencing all of that in about a week-long period felt like I was thrown in a washing machine that was filled with copious amounts of goodness and some sprinkle of “reality bites” detergent and set on the spin cycle.

Long story short, I lost. You probably already know because you are reading this on the “winner’s” blog.

Oh and that part about “devastating disappointment”, I lied. I put it in for dramatic effect, and as I said a countless number of times, it really felt like I was competing against my siblings and I felt genuinely happy for Ben. I’ve had a chance to catch up with Ben for a Korean media tour back in February and the more I get to know the guy, the more I know that TQ picked the right candidate out of all of us there. It is the “Best” job, but it’s an incredibly taxing job and you have to be “ON” all the freaking time. I’m sure every one of us would have brought a different flavor to the position of “island caretaker” but I firmly believe that Ben Southall is the one guy out of the 16 that really had the package that was a perfect match for TQ. That’s why Ben has turned his 6-month stint, into an 18-month job and probably a lifelong career. Good on you mate!

Now, enough ass kissing and let’s get a little more narcissistic. How did “TBJITW” change my life in the past year? Oh where to start? During my 1-year relationship with TQ so far, I had such a wide spectrum of experiences.

I experienced Australia free falling from 14,000 feet in the sky and scrounging around on the ocean floor.

I waited for sunrises floating in a hot air balloon and said goodbye to sunsets while sipping wine on some of the world’s finest sandy beaches.

I climbed on top of suspension bridges and crawled up 150m sand dunes.

I’ve hugged koalas, pet kangaroos and held crocodiles. I’m sure Ben has put up plenty of pics of these so I won’t bore you.

I gave it a go on the surfboard and I WAS the sand board, multiple times.

I traveled in everything from choppers and seaplanes to quads, white water rafts and luxury yachts.

I’ve had a chance to meet everyone from Ambassadors to celebrity chefs.

I’ve had a chance to serve many different roles during my past year as TQ’s Tourism Ambassador, but the one that has left the biggest footprint is my role as “babysitter extraordinaire” (second word in the title is self proclaimed) during the The Best Global Leader Campaign that Tourism Queensland sponsored along with DAKS Kids. I’ve always loved kids, but after being in charge of an 8 year old and a 6 year old boy for a week, I have MUCH LOVE and RESPECT for all the parents out there!

As you can see, there are many things that I’ve gained from my relationship with Tourism Queensland over the past year, but I value my new found friends from all over the globe the most. I still remember the awkward “hellos” and attempts at putting the online identities to the real life faces and handshakes when the 16 final candidates first met at the hotel in Brisbane. The 16 “smurfs”, all dressed in our bright blue shirts, shared a certain bond during that week in May 2009 and now, seeing an email from one of my fellow candidates in my inbox never fails to bring a smile to my face. I’m happy to report that all of us still keep in contact with each other with these great, long and entertaining emails that provide a snippet of our current lives to our fellow “best jobbers”, as we like to call ourselves. It’s always exciting to hear updates with stories about new additions to candidates’ families, the new “Best Job Couple”, or the latest trip to Queensland… but we have become close enough where we confide in each other during our tough times and tragedies as well. When I see this kind of camaraderie among the group, I realize that I was really part of something special and all of my efforts for TBJITW wasn’t for naught and it actually produced something tangible, something real, something worthwhile, even though I technically “lost.”

I mentioned earlier my position of Tourism Queensland’s Tourism Ambassador here in Korea. What exactly is a Tourism Ambassador? Well, my job: selling the wonderful tourist destinations that Queensland has to offer to Koreans and the rest of the world. Sounds simple enough. I always thought that sales people who believe in the product that they are selling are always the best ones. And through my wonderful trips to Queensland during TBJITW and in subsequent trips as a part of my Tourism Ambassadorship, I definitely believe in the product that I’m selling. I’m also very glad that I can work alongside TQ’s Global Tourism Ambassador, and my friend, Ben Southall. Thanks for this opportunity to have my say Ben!

Best to all the readers in the world!

Juweon Kim
TQ’s Tourism Ambassador in Korea

After travelling through Africa and finding a totally different scenario to that which the world’s press portrayed I should have thought twice before judging this very intricate and interesting land.

China is a country developing at an immense rate; the value of the currency continues to rise, the growth of its industries put the rest of the world to shame and there is no muttering of the letters GFC anywhere. Everything appears to be on the up.

Beijing the capital

You can well believe it from the moment you set foot on Chinese soil too. The enormous terminal building at Beijing Airport is an indication of what to expect from the rest of the country. The supersized structure towers overhead with a vast number of arrivals gates. The authorities even had the foresight to build not just one but three terminal buildings, one of which isn’t even used yet. They’re saving that one for the future…and they’ll need it.

Our drive into Beijing takes us down wide four lane roads that operate efficiently, without fuss and we arrive at the Westin Hotel in the centre of the city. It’s to be my location for the next few days and as I present to the media and industry from this part of the world.

My first job is to help launch a partnership between Tourism Queensland and Byecity.com, the online department of a highly successful travel company here in China. Billy the CEO is a fantastic gentleman who realises the adventures that can be had out in Queensland and tells me that more and more Chinese are heading away from their motherland on adventures by themselves across the planet rather than in the standard 20+ tour groups of the past.

Queensland is a great place for foreign visitors but we need to try and do more to make it even more tempting for non-English speaking travellers to come and experience the state. Signage, translators and guides all help the overseas experience to be that much easier.

The Chinese market currently brings lots of visitors into Queensland and over the next 5 years this number is expected to rise to around 10-12% thereby potentially making it the single largest supplier of inbound travellers to Queensland’s tourism industry.

Make no mistake; this is a vastly important stage of relationships between China and Queensland. We need to make a good impression right now to ensure that we can welcome holiday-makers, backpackers and businesses alike over the coming decades.

When in Rome do as the Romans do. That’s the age-old adage and something I’ve never shied away from on travels around the planet so here is no different. We head out to a few different local restaurants over the three days in Beijing and sample lots of dim sum, seaweeds and fiery hot chilli sauces too.

A trip to the capital can’t be complete without taking in a few of the famous attractions so one evening I head down to the Olympic Village to see the awesome Birds Nest stadium and Water Park. The site is vast and gives me an idea of quite what a project it is to run something as huge at the Olympics! Good luck London in getting everything ready for 2012!

Spring is just starting to show its face here in the north of the country but decided to stay away the day I visited the Forbidden City with rain and a horribly cold temperature but it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm to try and cover the 720,000m2 site in the short time we had there.

It’s a pretty impressive centre to the city and easily visible from the air using Google Maps as Tiananmen Square is forms the southern boundary of the site. As you approach the main gate you do so with thousands of other Chinese from all parts of the country, all here to find out their country.

Building for the city started in 1406 and still today is one of the most impressive and enormous tourist attractions I have ever been to. The halls, of which there are 980 ranging from small individual rooms to the monumentally massive Hall of Supreme Harmony that rises 30 metres from the level of the surrounding square.

Today the vast majority of the site is open for tourism but certain sections are only opened for ceremonial purposes that involve Emperor Hu. In 1987 it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO as the “Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties”.

Great Barrier Reef meets Great Wall of China

The interest in Queensland and The Best Job is huge here, the press conference that Charley organised was packed to the rafters and we managed to squeeze in 10 different media interviews too adding to the coverage the tour is getting. The national newspapers are featuring lots of stories about us!

No visit to China is complete without a trip to the Great Wall. A wonder of engineering even now as the incredibly long 8,800km wall winds its way across the undulating Chinese countryside originally designed to stop invasions by the Mongols from the north.

Together with 20 journalists we all head out to a popular section of the wall, Badaling. The sun is out and it seems everyone from the city has had the same idea with coach loads of tourists piling up the steps to marvel at the view. We drive in the opposite direction and find a less populated part and spend an hour wandering along it. It really is incredible that this was built between 1350 and 1600. Awesome.

World Expo in Shanghai

Next stop was Shanghai, a very different but very special Chinese city. It’s the site of the World Expo that runs from May through to October. The event was originally held in 1851 at Crystal Palace in London, more recently in Brisbane in 1988 and is now here in China.

I didn’t really have that much of a clue about what an Expo involved until now but having done my research realise that they are massively important events across to world to help nations showcase trade, tourism and open themselves up to other people, cultures and countries.

The Expo here is set to be absolutely massive with expected daily attendance figures of around 400,000. Total visitor numbers are expected to reach 70,000,000 by the end of the show – WOW.

I’m here to visit the Australian Pavilion that alone is expecting 40,000 per day. I was starting to get an idea of the significance of the event. We managed to get hold of some very special tickets to preview the pavilion and went down to see how preparations were going.

Rumours floating around the city are that the opening date of May 1^st is far too early for some of the exhibitors with workmen frantically attempting to get everything complete ready for the grand opening. No such dramas at the Aussie Pavilion though…everything is bang on track!

There will be around 200 people working in the Australian Pavilion when it opens and a certain Brisbanite by the name of Emma is to be our guide for the tour, as with all of the staff she as been to loads of lessons all about the tours they’ll be giving everyday for the next six months – and she knows her stuff!

The staff here are made up from Australians and local Chinese people who speak both English and Mandarin and later that night I head out for dinner with a few of them – Amber, Joanne and Bernadette. All very hospitable girls and we have great fun exploring Shanghai’s nightlife together!

Walking through the exhibition halls takes you on a journey of discovery and the final act brings you back to the entrance hall where seven cocoons hang from the cathedral-high ceiling from which wire-acrobats and dancers will perform.

I WANT TO COME BACK WHEN IT’S ALL UP AND RUNNING!

The final part of the tour involves meeting the Commissioner General for the Australian Pavilion, Lyndall Sachs. She is a very knowledgeable, lovely lady who shows us the VIP area of the building and then escorts us back to our hotel where the assembled Chinese press are waiting for us. The huge Asian media interest continues with nearly 50 journalists attending and I give another ten interviews over the course of the afternoon and next morning.

The subject of the Sheng Neng comes up on a couple of occasions. It was bound to. A Chinese ship runs aground on the GBR with the Island Caretaker away from his job! I have good news for the journos though as earlier that morning the ship had been re-floated with little or no pollution. The longer-term scar however is the 2km long scar the hull of the vessel has left on the sensitive coral reef.

Some of the food out here is pretty special you know…pretty damn hot too. Have a look at all of the chillis in this Sichuan dish. The restaurants also like to serve fresh fish…and I mean fresh fish. I recognise a few of the unlucky inhabitants of these tanks after diving with them out on the reef. They do look so much better when they’re swimming free in the ocean!

As part of the Expo the Chinese government ran a competition to find ten families from around China who would represent the country as they flew out to previous cities that have hosted the event. Brisbane being one of these welcomed Jeff, Lisa and their son Andrew back in July 2009 and I had the chance to go and meet them at their home.

What a great morning! The media followed us once more as we exchanged gifts and learnt just a little about each other’s lives. The family are really good English speakers and have travelled to the corners of the planet before and some of the photos they have on the wall are very motivating…lots of places still to visit Ben!

Together we wander down to the more famous areas of Shanghai like Ju Garden. A collection of old traditional buildings with a market place, zig-zag bridge, fish ponds and delicious eatery where Dim Sum is served and the queue tells us its bound to be good.

The market stalls feature all manner of things going on – check out this guy who cuts stencils from paper in record quick time. This is the dolphin he cut out in just under a minute. The obligatory photo then followed, as he knew all about the Best Job.

On my final evening in Shanghai I wander down to the Bund, a cosmopolitan mix of the old and the new with architecture from the early part of the century mixed with the ultra-modern Pearl Tower and other huge skyscrapers. The river is like an artery for the city and country with constant barges piled high with goods moving inland.

This is a country that is growing very, very fast and I am excited by it as bringing the new richer average person from here to Queensland seems very achievable. I want to learn Mandarin in preparation too!

China has surprised me on so many levels with massive media interest in the Best Job generating front-page newspaper articles, TV coverage and a record number of interviews. After sitting down with Wu Ni, an environmental journalist, I found out that the country really is making an effort to reduce its carbon foot-print as new green technologies seem to appear here everyday…we just don’t seem to hear about them in the newspapers of the UK and Australia.

BEIJING PHOTOS

SHANGHAI PHOTOS

My role as the Tourism Ambassador meant that I wasn’t going straight to Brisbane and the office, but instead stopping off in the Far East to visit some very important markets in the tourism industry back in Queensland.

First stop, Hong Kong.

It wasn’t my first visit to the island though! I visited here when I was three years old with Mum and Dad on a short stop over. Suffice to say I remember nothing of it but am told that I blew a raspberry at a stallholder in Kowloon market – so must have been getting some practice in for my didgeridoo lessons later in life.

As the plane dropped in through the heavy cloud I got no view at all of the sprawling high rise below which I’d hoped to see. The scary landing which takes incoming through the skyscrapers of the city is gone too, as the out-of-town airport now gives a Hamilton Island-esque landing on a finger-thin runway that juts out into the ocean.

The drive into the city takes you past one of the busiest waterways it the world. The docks which flank the shores are a sign of how successful Hong Kong is as a major shipping port with cranes and containers stacked up like lego bricks as far as the eye can see.

The Marco Polo Hotel is to be my home for the next few nights located in THE shopping district of the city with the likes of Chanel, Louis Vitton and Christian Dior lighting up the evening sky with their extravagant display of opulent electricity usage. I doubt whether Earth Hour was observed here!

Work starts in earnest for me though. Vicki and Tourism Queensland have organised a four day road show in the Harbour City shopping centre with an expansive display highlighting the wonders of the state focusing on the Whitsundays.

The pride of the show is a brand new Mini Cooper that has been completed covered in stickers and branded in the Best Job in the World logos and images taken during my role as the Island Caretaker. It’s awesome but also a little embarrassing!

Our display has a couple of competitions running for the public to enter. One is for budding amateur photographers who can use one of the sponsored Canon cameras to take pictures of their children as they play amongst the huge fish and turtles that the display is made from! The winner, chosen by a group of judges, gets a holiday to Queensland for their efforts.

With the assembled media all massed together it’s time for me to earn my crust with a presentation to them all about the Best Job and Queensland. The stage area forms a magnet for the passing shoppers and by the end there must be a hundred people all watching my slide show!

Afterwards each journalist waits quietly in turn for my to give a five minute interview. There’s a range of journalists here from national newspapers to travel magazines and television, each with a slightly different story to take from the day.

The subject of the environment comes up on a couple of occasions with the issue of the grounding of the Shen Neng 1 being the hot topic.

It was bound to – the Island Caretaker for the Great Barrier Reef goes away for a few weeks and a Chinese tanker crashes into it. The timing couldn’t have been worse. But with my usual diplomacy I steer around these awkward obstructions…I just wish the damn tanker captain had too. Good luck to all of those involved in the rescue operations.

Having so much interest in the story of the Best Job isn’t something I’d expected but it really is front-page news here still. The feeling of celebrity hadn’t crossed my mind until now when I had to start autographing photos! Yikes.

With the National Geographic program about a month away from hitting television screens across the world there’s a few jobs to do with helping to promote the series across Asia.

Star television is the broadcaster here in Hong Kong and one morning I arrive at the studio to record some interviews and promotional material. The series will go to Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan and the relevant lines have to be recorded for each of them. “This is National Geographic, make sure you stay tuned to find out all about the Best Job in the World”!

With two days gone the total number of interviews I’ve given has rocketed to nearly 20 which has to be a record for the world tour so far! Getting this much coverage for Queensland in a massively growing market really will help to bring people out to the Sunshine State…especially when we haven’t seen the sunshine here at all!

Next stop is Beijing…

No time to soak up the beaches, views or the restaurants though. This is all about work.

What was supposed to be a two day shoot has to be crammed into one instead as my house move and my imminent next trip away have really put the pressure on us to get things done as quickly as possible.

As I walk through the arrivals area at Hamilton Island airport there’s an incredible reception waiting for me. Some of my great friends here have organised boards and banners saying ‘Welcome Home’ and “Best Ben in the World’ and the girls on the island are furiously waving them as I turn the corner. I love them. Thank you so much Anna, Rosie, Grace, Amy and all the others!

But before I can get caught up in the moment I’m quickly reminded that I’m here to work. Richard Meyer from NatGeo introduces himself, grabs my bags and whisks me off to Catseye Beach to film the first setup for the day.

We’re filming a thirty second promotional piece that will go to air in the month leading up to the series opener in May.

The piece has me introducing myself sat in a grey suit, shirt and tie behind a desk (actually the desk of Glenn Bourke – Hamilton Island’s CEO!), getting up from my chair and asking “How’s your job going?”

Throughout the piece I slowly loose the office attire, stripping the jacket, tie, shirt and trousers whilst suggesting the types of jobs you may do. Plumber, shop assistant, banker etc etc.

The penultimate scene sees me down to my boardshorts and shirt entering the bushes saying “Let me show you where I work”…

We filmed everything on Hamilton Island with the exception of the closing scene which is awesome. The weather had been very seasonal throughout the shoot with hot sunshine broken up by torrential downpours – this is the tropics during the green season!

Our final scene was to be me exiting the bushes but appearing on Whitehaven Beach. One of the world’s top beaches with pure white sand along its 7km length. We took off from Hamilton Island Airport in a Bell Ranger helicopter and headed for Whitsunday Island.

However when we got there it was pretty wet and windy so Greg, our helicopter pilot from HeliReef, came up with a new location. Langford Spit off Hayman Island.

We grabbed a break in the clouds and managed to film several takes of me exiting the bushes, stripping off the final layer of office clothing and standing on the beach pronouncing “Welcome to my office, this is where I work. My name is Ben Southall and this is The Best Job in the World”.

As I say this the helicopter pulls away sharply with the camera panning out to leave me stood on a stunning sandy beach with crystal clear blue water all around.

You’ll just have to see it to believe it. As soon as I get a copy I’ll upload it onto islandreefjob.com for you!

Just one little reminder for you all then…

If you live in Australia don’t forget to set your video/digital recorders to National Geographic Adventure channel on Thursday 13^th May. Local time variations may apply so be sure to check your listings so you don’t miss it! It’ll be broadcast across the rest of the world soon after so I’ll let you know when, when I know!

Today however would be different. No more messing about, this is the stuff that sorts out the men from the boys – I mean it is supposed to be an adventure tour isn’t it!

First stop Skydiving. Skydive Cairns are to be our hosts for the stomach-churning adventure and we rock up to their office in the centre of Cairns for the pre-jump brief and to find out who we’ll be paired up with as our Jump Master.

My man of the morning is Max, a parachutist of 15 years who has made well over 15,000 jumps and obviously has an exemplary safety record (we just don’t talk about the five close shaves he’s also experienced!). He runs me through the procedures involved; how I should tuck my head back and my legs away when it’s our turn to sit in the door, when to spread-eagle in the air on the way down…and when it’s almost over – how to land.

I feel in a pretty privileged position really, having jumped a month ago with Skydive Airlie, but there’s a couple of pretty apprehensive faces wandering around the office!

We all get into our harnesses, sign our lives away and then make our way to the minibus waiting outside the office…sitting there like the vehicle which will take you to meet your maker!

As we pull onto the airfield our awaiting plane is already fired up and ready to go, there’s no going back now. I mean there’s pride at stake here. Forming an orderly, if bouncy-adrenaline-filled queue we await our fate…

One by one our Jump Masters load us into the plane, there are seven of us jumping so that’s 14 people in total. We clamber inside the plane and take our places between, the person in who our future now lies, thighs. This is all very cosy!

As we taxi down the runway some of the Korean media are talking to each other in Korean. I find out later that the editor of AB-ROAD magazine turned and told his cameraman “I love you!” Classic.

The scenery below is stunning as we make our way south-east, away from the city and out over the rainforest once more. We spot our some of our locations from the day before, landslides on the hills and churning waterfalls off in the distance. It’s a very different view to that of the Whitsundays, but equally as beautiful.

14,000 feet above the ground doesn’t take that long to get to and before we know it the roller door has been opened, the rush of the cold air fills the cabin and the first victim, sorry jumper, has their feet out of the door. Then before you can blink – GONE!

It’s surprisingly quick with these guys you know. No time to say you’re pulling out which is probably a damn good thing. I’m fourth up and before I can look down we’re falling down at terminal velocity towards the ground.

220 km/h of face distorting wind is rushing against my face and body and the only thing I can do is laugh and love it. The feeling never ever changes no matter how many times you do this – adrenaline is coursing through my veins and the natural high it causes is totally addictive.

This time there’s around a minute of freefall but it passes by oh so quickly when you’re tumbling at that speed. In fact it really does feel as though it’s over in a matter of seconds before that crutch-jerking tug on the harness and the entire freefall is over.

Once I’m hanging under canopy floating gently to the ground, Max offers me the controls of the parachute and I get a chance to steer this baby. Scary thought I know but it’s so cool being able to fly yourself down to the ground and towards the landing zone.

We pull full circles at speed and eventually come close to our landing site before Max takes over, gives the last instruction to lift my feet and with a fast approach we make it down onto terra firma once more.

Incredible – absolutely amazing – “can I go again please!”

Seeing the other guys come down to earth is wicked too, I can hear Juweon before I see his face – he’s had a great time too and shouts and screams as he approaches the ground.

The most incredible transformation has take place with another of the group too – Choong Keol Lee, the editor of GQ Korea, was a pretty quiet guy before this jump. This has brought him out of his shell totally. From total fear to total enjoyment and a huge number of very funny jokes too. I like this guy a lot.

Remember this is supposed to be an Adventure Tour so there’s no time for sitting about. No sooner are we through with our jump then it’s back to the office to collect our bags and onto the next activity…

Well strictly speaking we did have lunch first and it was back to one of my favourite haunts in the city, Café China and its ever-welcoming host Harry. Treated to his very special function room we all tucked in a spread worthy of the finest Chinese Emperor, finished off with a very different but tasty mango jelly. You have to try it!

With our final mouthful just about down the itinerary kicked in once more – we were off to the final installment. White-water Rafting.

Now I know it’s not the most impressive of all the rafting waters in Queensland, but with the rain the surrounding hills have had over the last few weeks, the Barron River is still putting down some serious white water. Enough to challenge those first time rafters amongst the group…and there are a few!

Raging Thunder are again our hosts for this our last adrenaline-filled activity and we jump in their minibus, complete with trailer and rafts, which takes us on the hour long drive up the valley.

The Korean media group all head off to one raft with their translator – there are certain things that you have to understand when rafting! I join up with another group of English speaking tourists led by Ash the guide. Once we’ve kitted ourselves out with lifejacket, helmet and slap on the sunscreen it’s down to the water’s edge to prove we can swim, float or at least not drown. The large yellow raft is big enough to fit eight paddlers and a guide in, there’s holes all over the bottom of it but fear not. They are there to let water out…not in.

The paddling drill is then given to us with a number of different instructions necessary to take on the rapids of varying intensity. They range from “paddle” to “PADDLE!!”, there’s “get down” and finally “GET DOWN, PADDLES UP”.

These are all in order of desperation as Ash our guide decides how we should be approaching, or attacking, the next rapid.

We do pretty well to start off with, riding the first and second of the falls with relative ease and then one of the big ones approaches – The Rooster Tail. So called when the water is flowing like it is, as the spouting water looks just like a chicken’s tail.

On approach it all looks pretty good, it’s only when we drop onto the beast that the raft is flung up in the air, all of us grab onto the centre ropes and get as low as possible. As we smash into the water below the raft almost flips but we just manage to hold on and save a wet ending happening.

Further downstream we’re not so lucky and get sucked back into one of the falls we’ve just dropped down. This is known as surfing! The raft is pulled right under the cascading water and immediately fills right up but these things are designed to do just that and instead of sinking, just sits there and with me being right at the front, I bear the brunt of the torrent!

We struggle to get free and in the end Ash has to jump out with a rope attached to him to act as a human-anchor, thereby giving enough resistance to pull the raft free from its temporary parking spot. No such luck.

So now it’s my turn to help out. In an effort to add more resistance Ash asks me to jump ship too, holding onto the line he’s clinging onto downstream. I take a leap of faith into the white water and join him gasping for breath 10 metres away on the end of the line. Eventually our efforts are rewarded as the raft breaks free from its watery pit-stop and we clamber back onboard.

Another fifteen minutes later and it’s all drawing to an end. The river levels out, the rapids disappear and we take the opportunity to bath in the waters, relaxing the tired muscles we’ve used all afternoon.

What a cracking way to finish the tour! It really was the activity I enjoyed the most and would love to do it all over again – but with some bigger rapids maybe!

The night was taken up with devouring one of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time courtesy of the Salt House Restaurant. Yum yum.

The Whitsundays – picture perfect location and a sailor’s dream for the weather. Add to the mix one of the most famous yachts in Australian maritime history and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for a superb day on the water.

It’s been a busy week, so far we’ve hosted media from three different countries and today is another one, not so bad when you think we’ll be out enjoying their company from the deck of an old time racing yacht.

We all make our way across the Whitsunday Passage onboard Fantasea’s fast boat. Arriving at Shute Harbour we disembark and make our way along the jetty to where Ragamuffin leaves from. As we arrive we spot her straight away, she’s an imposing figure in the marina and easily the largest of all the yachts moored here, measuring in at 24 metres long.

George the captain is equally as imposing – with a huge Merv Hughes-style moustache his tough exterior soon melts away as he welcomes us onboard. The rest of the crew run through the basics we all need to know, the shorelines are thrown off and we motor out into Shute Harbour ready for a day’s adventure.

With 25 other people on deck there’s load of room to enjoy the sunshine and the usual crew tasks are handed out to us. First thing and most important in order to propel us to our first destination of the day, is hauling up the sails and Cameron (the host of China’s Getaway holiday program) and I have been picked out as the likely candidates for bumping the sail.

On more modern racing yachts this operation is done using grinding winches to take up the slack of the sheets (ropes to the rest of us!) but here on Ragamuffin it’s those good old tools known as your own hands. We take it in turns to haul in as much as we can until the sail is right at the top of the mast and ready to fill with air. Now that’s one heck of a feeling – shoulders burning, heart racing and the satisfaction of providing the power for today’s sail. Well almost.

The sail across the Whitsunday Passage is awesome, the wind is right up, the sun is out and we are flying! Spray breaks over the bow of the boat and we’re heeling over dangling our feet over the side to provide ballast – just like every professional sailor does.

The wind is still pumping so we head to one of the more sheltered bays on the leeward side of Hook Island, the second largest of the Whitsundays, and drop anchor to check out the conditions. They’re virtually perfect.

Ragamuffin offers the chance to SCUBA dive, which is unique for a day trip sailing adventure out of the Whitsundays. We stop in Mackerel Bay and get dressed up ready to head overboard and down into the depths below. I’ve dived here before with Islandive and it’s a good introduction into what the fringing reef of these islands has on offer.

We spend 45 minutes filming for the Getaway program which is great, the idea of bringing the media out here is to showcase the spectacle that is the Whitsundays gaining publicity for the area and hopefully making people think about it a a holiday destination.

The afternoon draws to a close far too soon and before we know it the sail is flapping in the wind and our course has been set for home. The sound of the water lapping on the hull is one of those things that’s so perfect about sailing, a noisy diesel engine just doesn’t do the same for me!

Once we’re tied up at the marina we bid our farewells to the crew and thank the for a very memorable day out on the water. Time to head back to Hamilton Island.

The alarm call at 3.30am wasn’t the most welcome I’ve ever had but I dragged myself from my pit, met the Korean media guys and Michelle downstairs and staggered onto the Raging Thunder courtesy bus ready for the hour’s drive up to the Atherton Tablelands just inland from Cairns.

Dawn was yet to happen but the early signs of a colourful horizon were starting to appear out to the east as we arrived at Mareeba, the town close to the launch site for our trip up into the sky.

I’d been up to do this once before with my girlfriend Bre and we’d had the most incredible experience together as Jay our pilot flew us over the patchwork landscape of the area. To read about it click here.

This time I’m flying together with a few other people so the balloon is that much bigger – in fact it’s huge and to boot there’s a cute little Koala on the outside. As the ground crew prepare our balloon, filling it with fans and then eventually heat from the burners, our group desperately try to avoid the plagues of carnivorous mosquito’s hovering all around. This is a game in itself!

As the elegant balloon starts to fill it’s our time to go. There are three other balloons all launching from the same site and the sound of firing burners fills the otherwise quiet morning air. We clamber into our basket, take loads of photos of each other and wait…

One final burst on the gas and the basket starts to skip across the ground below – we’re off! The last of the tethering ropes are thrown clear and we gain height quickly as our super-warm ball of air heads up into the heavens above.

Below us the lay of the land becomes that much clearer, the swirling streams and rivers lined by their lush green banks of bushes and trees. The patchwork of agriculture disappears into the distance with crops and fields making up the bulk of the landscape. This is farming territory.

As the sun broke the horizon the light changed with warm orange and yellows beams thrown onto the other balloons, the clouds above us and the peaks of the surrounding hills. This is the way to witness sunrise.

Our pilot the told us it was time to find a suitable landing site, he’d spied one around half a kilometre away in some rough ground behind a residential block. The shifting winds at altitude can vary over the ascent/descent of just a few metres and it’s these that he used to bring us closer to the site. Until finally the basket dragged over a group of bushes, scraped along the wet grass for a few metres and unceremoniously popped us over on our side. All of us are now lying flat on our backs!

As we clambered out of the basket and swapped stories about how good it was, there was one more job to do – pack the entire balloon and basket back onto the trailer.

What a way to spend the very early hours of the day!

After a hearty breakfast back at the Heritage Museum we all jumped onto the courtesy bus back to the city and an hour later arrived at the car park of Skyrail.

Now Skyrail is something, which has intrigued me for months. I’ve been to a few awards ceremonies for the tourism industry and almost every time it’s the destination awarded the prize for ‘Sustainable Tourism’. I had to see this place…

Skyrail opened in 1995 and consists of 114 gondola cabins that travel along a cableway for 7.5kms, and is much like a ski lift, albeit over slightly warmer more tropical conditions! The cableway starts off at the base of the Red Peak Mountain and climbs up 545 metres to the first of the stations.

We’re lucky enough to have a special ride for our trip, there’s a ‘marketing cage’ that does away with the usual sides and roof and instead each rider wears a harness and is secured to the metal framework. It’s a little scarier travelling this way but for the sake of the unrestricted photos we can get it’s well worth it!

As we leave the lower station Skyway whisks us up and over Tjapukai Aboriginal Centre where I visited last year and steeply up the side of Red Peak – the start of the tropical rainforest.

It’s really quite beautiful travelling in near silence so close to the canopy of the forest. The sounds you’d expect from this sort of environment flood up to us and the humidity rising up from the trees below is really noticeable.

Over the last week there has been a serious amount of rain falling on this area but today we’re lucky to have blue skies and sunshine…what this does do though is evaporate the moisture from below and that’s what were feeling. Nature working!

We stop at Red Peak station and are met by Lance…the wealth of all knowledge here at Skyrail. He’s one of the rangers who takes groups around the boardwalk here, educating them about the rainforest and flora & fauna that call this place home. It’s one thing visiting somewhere like this and being amazed by the trees and landscape but I think it adds another element altogether when you’re actually learning loads about the whole eco-system too. The rangers who work here love what they do and you can tell by the way they present about it!

In the distance the Barron River cuts through the forest as it has been doing for thousands of years creating the steep sided gorge through which it runs. It’s really impressive seeing it from up high especially at this time of year as the recent cyclone that passed through dumped a good few inches on the surrounding mountains resulting in loads of water coming over the falls.

Once we’ve travelled along Skyrail to the next station at Barron Falls, it’s time to leave for the next destination…Rainforestation.

After wolfing down lunch (this is tiring you know moving about all of the time!) we had the time for a quick tour of what’s on offer here…and I wish we’d had more.

The whistle-stop tour introduced the Korean media to everything Australian in the hour we had. We held a koala and crocodile, learned how to play a didgeridoo, threw a boomerang, and tossed a spear. Once we’d cleared the animal park it was time to explore the rainforest from a very different angle…down on the floor!

The DUKW, or DUCK, is an ex-army amphibious vehicle that can move on both land and in the water. Rainforestation have a fleet of around 15 of them and they are so impressive.

A track runs from the centre out into the forest and Muzz our guide and driver talked to us all about the history of the forest and some of the interesting creatures and plants, which are found here.

My particular favourite (as it’s so horrible) is the Stinging Tree. Now it’s no a piddly little nettle which irritates the skin for a few minutes – this thing hurts and for ages! There are tiny spikes, almost like fibreglass, which are on every leaf and branch which should be avoided at all costs as the sting hurts like hell to start with and once that’s gone, irritates you for up to a year afterwards. Not very good!

Our tour takes us into the valley into a large wet area at the bottom…there’s no stopping this DUCK though, Muzz simply engages the propeller and our truck becomes a boat! We drive around the waterway seeing freshwater turtles and lizards on the banks that scurry away as we approach. We’re up close and personal with nature once more.

The clock is ticking on our afternoon and we have to make a rushed exit in time to catch our train from the town of Kuranda back to Cairns – we’re travelling Gold Class and it’d be terribly rude to turn up late you know.

Kuranda station has to be one of the most beautiful in the whole of Australia; the plants and flowers that fill the platform only add to the colonial feel, of this the last stop on the line.

We board our Gold Class cabin onboard the Kuranda Scenic Railway and settle in for a journey back down the dramatic valley the Barron River has carved out. Our Hostess Beth pampers us with drinks, nibbles as the commentary plays on the television screens mounted in the wall.

As we travel down the line we’re told stories of the construction back in 1891 when the early pioneers decided they needed a way of getting from the inland gold fields out to the coast. The line clings to the edge of the steep sided hills, with huge drop-offs, raging waterfalls and delicate-looking bridges built along its length.

My Mum and Dad would have loved this part of the adventure. It’s a very special way of seeing the gorge. We stop off at a couple of photo spots, both of which focus on the dramatic waterfalls that are full to capacity:

It’s been an exhausting but thoroughly entertaining day and as we make it back to the hotel, there are a few sleepy bodies waking up around me – and I’m one of them. It’s amazing how the heat takes it out of you!

We reconvene an hour later ready for dinner at another of Cairns famous eateries – Barnacle Bills Seafood Inn

. Owner Tony has been here for 27 years and loves what he does. Tonight he’s prepared a special menu for us – suits me as there’s no complicated choosing from the menu.

I love my seafood and am not disappointed; oysters, scallops, Moreton Bugs, prawns and Coral Trout grace the table and as ever I eat the very last one!

Waddling back to the hotel, much like a Moreton Bay Bug, I sleep particularly well.

Day Two of the adventure complete.