Seventy hopefuls go for dream job

By Laura Joint
BBC Devon

Lovely Lundy, where a rare job opportunity has attracted 70 hopefuls

One has an average daily temperature of 27° Celsius and enjoys eight hours sun a day, the other averages 13°C with four hours of daily sunshine.

But Hamilton Island off Queensland, Australia, and Lundy off the North Devon coast have a lot more in common than you might at first think.

Both are set in protected waters and are home to rare marine life.

They are of similar size, with Lundy being slightly the bigger at three miles long and half a mile wide.

And both are inundated with applications whenever they advertise job vacancies.

Hamilton - surprisingly similar to Lundy in some respects

When Hamilton advertised for a live-in caretaker, they received 34,000 applications worldwide - Briton Ben Southall was eventually selected for what was dubbed "the best job in the world".

Lundy is currently looking for a live-in maintenance person with carpentry skills and partner to live and work on the island. More than 70 applicants have gone for the job - with some as far away as Spain and France.

The chosen couple will move lock, stock and barrel to Lundy, which sits 12 miles off the North Devon coast and is linked to the mainland by its very own supply and passenger ship, The MS Oldenburg.

The couple can expect a lifestyle which cannot be matched anywhere on the mainland. There are no cars apart from farm vehicles and those which bring supplies from the quay to the village, and there is no crime.

Lundy is self-sufficient in water - it catches and treats its rainfall - and electricity, which is switched off from midnight to 6am to save power.

There is a pub, post office and shop, church, and 23 properties which are let out as holiday accommodation by the Landmark Trust which manages the island.

Lundy gets around 20,000 visitors each year - most are day-trippers, but 5,000 stay for holidays.

Lighthouse with a view - this is what you see at the top of the Old Lighthouse on Lundy

The new maintenance person and partner will be responsible for the up-keep of the island's properties.

"They'll be living the dream," said Lundy general manager Derek Green.

"It's a lifestyle rather than a 9-5 job. The benefits of living here are indescribable really.

"It's a beautiful place, there are no traffic jams, no stress - it's a busy lifestyle and hard work - but the way of life is second to none.

"We've got amazing wildlife, we're the UK's first marine nature reserve, we enjoy swimming, diving, snorkelling, walking, climbing, birdwatching, it's a fantastic place.

"There will be 25 of us living here shortly and the successful applicants need to fit in with the community we have here and also add to the skills."

The couple currently filling the roles are leaving after three-and-a-half years, and Derek is expecting a lot of applications from hopeful candidates.

"Whenever we advertise a job like this, we generally get flooded with applications.

"We'll do interviews on the mainland and then the shortlisted couples will be taken to Lundy so they can get an insight into life on the island.

"The couple who get the job will find the properties here well maintained and centrally heated, but we'll ship their furniture over so they feel completely at home."