Things I've Learned

but couldn't use.
Not that I couldn't use them, per se, its just that a 60 second application video is shockingly short once you're actually staring down the seconds. So most of the information I gathered about the Great Barrier Reef and Hamilton Island ended up cut for time. Showing Tourism Queensland why I'm the perfect candidate for the job and telling them all that I know (or learned) about their beautiful part of their world is nearly impossible. I've done the best I could, but here are some facts that were left on the cutting room floor:

Hamilton Island

• One of 74 drowned mountains that form the Whitsunday Chain of Islands.
• Largest inhabited island in the Coral Sea.
• Has a year round tropical climate with an average temperature of about 82 degrees.
• Prior to the last ice age, the Whitsundays were connected to the mainland, but flooding caused by the melting of the polar ice caps seperated them turning them into the island chain they are now.
• 70% of the Island is protected as National Park.
• In late August the Island plays host to a famed Race Week, a yachting festival drawing over a 150 vessels.
• The activities and species of flora and fauna on the island are too numerous to list. Seriously. From kayaking to aviation tours and wallabies to peacocks, the list of things to see and do is endless.

Great Barrier Reef

• Spans over 1200 miles long.
• Hundreds of islands dot the reef along its entire expanse.
• There are over 30 species of whales, porpoises, and dolphins that make the reef their home, whether permanently or as part of their migration track.
• July (when the best job in the world winner is to report for duty) is the perfect time for catching a glimpse of the migrating humpback whales.
• It is the largest reef system in the world and its formation dates back as far as nearly 600,000 years ago.
• The current reef structure is more like 6-8,000 years old.
• 400 species of coral comprise the reef and as a structure it can be seen from space. Space! That is Amazing!
• 1500 variaties of fish call the reef home.
• Tiger and Hammerhead sharks have been spotted along the reef, but most shark sightings are of those that are generally docile like the Reef or White/Black Tip sharks.
• Australia is known to be the home of some of the most dangerous sealife on the planet. And though, for example, the Box Jellyfish and the Blue Ringed Octopus can be distrubed enough to the point of inflicting harm, most websites say its simple: just leave them alone and they will return the favor.

(as a disclaimer, I am not claiming origin of these facts, I know I got them from outside sources, and no, I did not cite any of them because when I was fact gathering I didnt keep them. Horrible student, I know).