IT'S billed as the “greatest job in the world” - and a Suffolk artist has set her heart on it.

Colin Adwent

IT'S billed as the “greatest job in the world” - and a Suffolk artist has set her heart on it.

Hannah Seward, of Boxford, near Hadleigh, is one of 10,000 applicants worldwide to apply for the post of caretaker for Hamilton Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

The 33-year-old and fellow jobseekers are vying for a 12-hour working month with fringe benefits of a three-bedroom paradise villa and a salary of Australian $150,000 (�70,000) for just six months work.

Miss Seward said she is currently in the most popular 360 website applicants from which only the first 50 will be shortlisted. The final 11 will be flown out to Queensland for the last part of the selection process.

To get further up the rankings Miss Seward is eager for people to view, and rate, her 60-second video application.

She said: “Many people would see this as a six-month holiday but I see this as once in a lifetime opportunity to show the world what an amazing place the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding islands are.

“It's the world's largest living structure. At nearly 2,000km long it can be seen from outer-space.

“It's home to hundreds of fish, invertebrates and coral species. It's also a fantastic place to visit for a holiday with golf, sailing, fishing, snorkelling and diving all on hand.

“I would love the chance to show the world what an amazing natural wonder it is and how we need to protect its beauty and fragility as much as enjoying what it has to offer.”

Adorned in an Aussie cowboy hat, Miss Seward sets out her convincing case in her video application. In it she says: “Every since I heard about this amazing job I have been so excited. I can't sleep, eat or think about anything else.

“I love to dance, ski, sail, fish, hike and dive. I had a fantastic year backpacking and I fell completely in love with Australia and a lovely Aussie boy.”

Miss Seward, who has a degree in business and international marketing, said she feels well qualified for the post as she has previously carried out reef research on an island off Borneo and studied hump-backed whales off Ecuador.

Queensland Tourist Board has said the successful applicant will be responsible for feeding fish, diving, snorkelling and delivering the island's mail by plane.

The primary part of the job will be to report back to the world via a video blog documenting experiences on Hamilton Island to a global audience.

To further her cause Miss Seward tells viewers on www.islandreefjob.com: “It really would be a privilege to look after something so fragile and beautiful. They say I'm good fun, honest, hard working, open-minded and I look good in a wet suit.”

It is little wonder that with the job's pay and conditions, the website crashed when the job was first advertised after it received more than one million hits in only three days.

The stunned chief executive officer of Queensland Tourism could only say: “Oh boy, what have we done?”

View Hannah's application on www.islandreefjob.com

/#/applicants/watch/kYbsHH9nbbE

Factfile

Hamilton Island is in Australia's Whitsunday Islands.

The temperature is warm throughout the year

The island is the largest inhabited one in the region

It boasts blue skies, crystal water and pure sands.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system

It is 1,600 miles long and has 2,900 individual reefs.

There are more than 2,000 different species of fish

The deadline for applications for job is February 22.

The successful candidate will start the new job on July 1.

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