How would you like to spend six months in a beautiful three-bedroom house on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, swimming with the fishes, taking videos and pictures and blogging about anything interesting, AND . . . . . . . . . get paid for doing this?

That is exactly what Ben Southwall's life is going to be for six months starting July 1st 2009. That's because the 34-year old British resident was recently appointed caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef Islands by the Queensland Tourism Board.

The position for caretaker, advertised as the 'Best Job In The World', required very few qualifications to be eligible for consideration. According to the Tourism Board website, the candidate had to be over 18 years of age, know how to swim, and be enthusiastic and creative.

The duties of the appointed caretaker are equally easy. He/She has to enjoy the beautiful nature and be able to write a weekly blog and capture the experience via video and pictures.To ensure that the caretaker and his/her family doesn't get bored or tired, the employer also plans to arrange a schedule of travel and events to the various islands. The events will include things like trying out a new resort, testing some state-of-the-art snorkeling equipment or simply taking a hike on the islands.

And if the caretaker felt so inclined, he/she could feed the fish, help keep the pool clean by picking out the occasional leaf that may fall in, or pick up the mail. And the icing on the cake. . . . For all this hard work, the caretaker will be paid a salary $110,000 USD.

To apply for the position, contestants had to send a 60 second video on why he/she was the best candidate for the job. While the Queensland Tourism Board was expecting a good response, they were definitely not expecting 34,700 applicant videos from 200 countries.

After weeding through them, 16 finalists were picked and flown to Hamilton Island, where they went through four days of grueling interviews, which included snorkeling in the clear blue waters, feasting on a barbecue on the beach and relaxing in a SPA.

So what's the catch? For once there is none. The job was conceived and advertised to make more people aware of the beautiful Great Barrier Reef Islands as a vacation destination. The Tourism Queensland Board is extremely happy with the results, and may make this an annual event.

That means there is hope for all of us that didn't know about the job, or are not 18 yet! To view the qualifying finalist videos check out http://www.islandreefjob.com/.

Sources: Foxnews.com, Yahoonews.con,news.com.au,islandreef.com