by Mat Churchill

The UK's Ben Southall may not be a household name, but his job description certainly created interest around the world.

Mr Southall is better known as the winner of Tourism Queensland's 'Best Job in the World' competition which saw him become caretaker of Hamilton Island.

But now he is setting his sights on a new campaign 'The Best Expedition in the World" which will see Mr Southall kayak 1600km from the small town of 1770 north to Cooktown.

Mr Southall will embark on his expedition in May 2011, and is expecting to take three months to complete the journey which aims to get people involved in research and protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

"It was about October last year when someone asked me what was happening next (after the Best Job in the World). So I thought I'd kayak the length of the Great Barrier Reef," he said.

His work has enabled him to travel from the Torres Strait Islands in the north, to Lady Elliot Island in the south, but he is looking forward to visiting two spots in particular.

"I want to see Endeavour Reef where Captain Cook ran aground, and the photos of Agincourt Reef on Poseidon's facebook page are amazing so I'm going to go SCUBA diving there."

Mr Southall is no stranger to adventure. Prior to working with Tourism Queensland he spent a year travelling around Africa.

"I was living in a Land Rover in Africa and climbed its five highest mountains, ran five marathons, and raised $50,000 for charity," he said.

A Tourism Queensland spokesperson said the details of the trip are yet to be completed, but is expected he will visit Port Douglas as he makes his way up the east coast.

"Ben's itinerary isn't finalised, and we're still developing ideas for a campaign," she said.

Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor wished Mr Southall well on his adventure."This is a great opportunity to highlight the Great Barrier Reef and spread the message of research, education and conservation," he said..

"A worthy cause it is too with approximately 1.9 million tourists and 4.9 million recreational visitors enjoying the Great Barrier Reef each year."