IT WAS advertised as the best job in the world. You would be paid to surf, sail, look after the exotic Hamilton Island off the coast of Queensland.

Also, the job came with a beachside mansion boasting fantastic ocean views.

Photo: ST

But the winner, Briton Ben Southall who beat more than 34,000 people to the job, now says the job may not have that "ideal" after all.

His six-month, A$150,000 ($189,000) stint has just come to an end.

Mr Southall, in an interview with London's Sunday Telegraph, has said that it wasn't that "plain sailing".

The tourist ambassador for the paradise island had very little time for sailing at all - or sunbathing, or simply relaxing and enjoying those fine ocean views.

Instead, the 34-year-old former charity worker found himself working seven days a week and up to 19 hours a day.

He had a gruelling schedule of promotional events, press conferences, official glad handing and administration.

"It has been very busy, busier than most people would have imagined, and certainly busier than I had imagined, "Mr Southall told The Sunday Telegraph, adding that he had been "too busy" to sit back and reflect on it all very much.

How busy did he get? According to Tourism Queensland's official report on his posting, he had visited 90 "exotic locations", made 47 video diaries, and given more than 250 media interviews - including a chat with popular US TV host Oprah Winfrey.

Apart from all that, he had to meet Queensland politicians, give speeches, meet dignitaries who visit the island, tourists and travel industry people.

Mr Southall admitted that he is now tired out - and in need, perhaps, of a holiday.

Other perks in the contest, dreamed up by Tourism Queensland as a business-boosting publicity ruse in the wake of the global economic crisis, included access to a private pool and a courtesy golf buggy.

No time to explore in private "It was a job that needed 18 to 19 hours' work every day," he was quoted as saying.

"Not just the interviews and the social side of it, but also sitting up late at night blogging and uploading pictures, it's very time consuming."

Indeed, if his online audience is right, he spent so much time blogging about having a good time that he didn't really have much of a time at all. Readers of the website - www.islandreefjob.

com - complained that the jam-packed itineraries organised by Tourism Queensland left Mr Southall no time to explore the reef privately and deliver detailed accounts of his experiences.

Many think his postings leaned heavily towards the promotional side, and that there weren't any personal or critical angle.

However, he did learn to sail, play golf and kayak. But even those activities were curtailed by the need to keep a running "wish you were here" web commentary about what he was up to.

The Telegraph quoted Mr Peter Lawlor, Queensland minister for tourism, as saying that Mr Southall posted more than 75,000 words in 60 separate blogs, uploaded more than 2,000 photos, and "tweeted more than 730 times".

Even as his contract was coming to an end, Mr Southall survived a sting from a potentially deadly jellyfish while jetskiing off Hamilton Island, AFP reported.

"I was feeling pretty hot and sweaty, had a headache and felt pretty sick too, together with pain in my lower back and a tightness in the chest and a really high blood pressure," he wrote on his blog.

However, he still insists that he enjoyed himself immensely.

In fact, Tourism Queensland is offering him a new 18-month, six-figure contract to promote their state worldwide.

He will also write a book on his experiences during the last six months.

This article was first published in The New Paper.