Island Ambitions

Everyone is pleading with PilotGirl to help them win what is being called "the best job in the world" -- pocketing a 6-digit salary for living like a castaway on a beautiful tropical island for 6 months.

Australia's Tourism Queensland is looking for a spokesperson to promote tourism on the island of Hamilton. There are a few minor tasks like keeping the pool clean and feeding the fish but letting everyone know what’s taking place on the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef is the most pressing.

Rather than help these wanna-be winners I'm tossing my own name into the mix and producing a knock-out 60 second spot. Daily blog reports, travel acumen, photo journals and production experience is a must as is scuba, snorkeling and shark diving. Check, check and check again.

I've done all these things as well as jumped from perfectly fine airplanes, wrapped my neck with snakes, lived among Dalits and swam with manatees. Who doesn't love ecology in an endangered reef system more than me?

Fingers crossed that the judges will think my video warrants a winner because, frankly, it's my escalating debt that really needs publicity. If I could just abscond from July to December with camera in one hand and my aging pup in the other, this gig would be the best thing that happened to my wallet.

Hold that thought... if I could bring back a single Australian heartthrob that believes in climate change, worships independent film and listens to NPR religiously, then that would be the best thing that ever happened to me.