From a Taiwanese who describes herself as “super curious” to an Australian who showed off his best asset in a thong, 50 lucky people are now on a short list to become caretaker of a tropical Australian island — dubbed the “Best Job in the World.”
Officials with the tourism department of Australia’s Queensland state yesterday revealed the 50 finalists from a pool of nearly 35,000 applicants for the job — an A$150,000 (US$96,000) contract to relax on an island in the Great Barrier Reef for six months while writing a blog.
The finalists hail from 22 countries, including Taiwan, the US, Germany, Greece and India.
The public can view their video applications on the job ad’s Web site and vote for a favorite. The top vote-getter and 10 other people chosen by the tourism board will be flown to Australia to be interviewed.
The only Taiwanese to make the last 50, Clare Wang from Taipei City, introduced herself in her application video as an interpreter.
Stating that she has “great people skills and excellent communication skills,” she added that she has a wide range of interests.
“Most importantly, I have never been to the Great Reefs, so I will be the perfect explorer; I will be super curious,” she said.
In one video, a man from Queensland is seen scuba diving, swimming with dolphins and riding a horse along a beach. He ends his video with the line, “You’d be out of your mind not to give the job to an Aussie bum” — and with that, walks away from the camera — in a thong.
The public has until March 24 to vote for their favorite applicant.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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