Competition Heats Up For Lord Howe Island ‘Best Job’

With only two weeks left for 160 year old family business Pinetrees Lodge on Lord Howe Island to find the most talented videographer to film “the most perfect place in the world”, the competition is heating up.

The position, open to professional and talented amateur film-makers, is a dream job which has received interest from videographers as far as New York City to professional Marine Biologist and Naturalist Tour Guides from the Great Barrier Reef.

With a $1000 per week salary, the successful applicant will experience everything Lord Howe Island and Pinetrees Lodge have to offer over a two-month period. The videographer is to produce eight two-minute video clips to capture the Lord Howe Island experience and let the content speak for itself.

Luke Hanson, owner of Pinetrees Lodge says; “We don’t need cheesy hard sell ads. The activities on Lord Howe are all world class, and just capturing people enjoying their time snorkelling, surfing, fishing, climbing, biking, kayaking, diving, golfing or walking on the beach with rare sea birds should speak for itself. The film clips are about sharing the experience.”

Lord Howe Island has just been voted the seventh Greatest Holiday of Australia, ahead of all other island destinations in Australia (including Lizard, Hayman and Hamilton), and all other destinations in NSW.

Through one of the most comprehensive surveys in years, Australian Traveller Magazine received 12,000 nominations for the Greatest Holidays of Australia. These were reduced to a shortlist or 900 and then sent to 20 judges to decide the top 1002.

“Sometimes these surveys are driven by the numbers of people who will travel to each destination, you know, to help boost the tourism economy, but in this case our little island with a limit of 400 guests made the top 10. So it seems they were looking for genuine iconic destinations as well as big destinations. So few people have experienced Lord Howe and the best way for us to entice new guests to the island is to share fun documentary style videos across social media.”

Applications close on 31 July 2014 and the successful applicant will be announced on 11 August 2014. In order for the videographer to capture a genuine experience, he or she will need to live on Lord Howe Island and do every activity – in some cases multiple times.

Pinetrees Lodge is the oldest hotel on Lord Howe Island, and one of the oldest family businesses in Australia. A typical day at Pinetrees may include snorkeling on the southernmost coral reef in the world, surfing perfect waves, catching a 20kg kingfish, climbing dramatic mountains, relaxing on the beach, exploring beautiful rainforest, riding bikes to a beach BBQ, and swimming in the pristine lagoon.

After a memorable day, guests return to Pinetrees for a sunset drink on the waterfront deck and an exceptional 4 course dinner. During event weeks, guests can learn from celebrity chefs Peter Kuruvita, Tom Kime and Steve Snow, or Miranda Kerr’s yoga instructor Charlotte Dodson, or former World Ironman Champion Trevor Hendy.

“Our event weeks attract the best chefs, athletes, photographers and naturalists to ensure that our guests have the best week of the year. We get the same feedback every week when we drop our guests to the airport. The videographer will also get to enjoy and film our event weeks in the spring of 2014, so he or she may have the best week of the year – five times over.”

Pinetrees Lodge has recently consolidated its family ownership arrangements with 6th generation owner Dani Rourke, and her husband Luke Hanson, taking ownership of the business from February 2014. Pinetrees Lodge has provided families, nature lovers, adventure seekers and couples with a unique holiday experience on the World Heritage island for decades. Luke and Dani are now looking towards their children’s future as they work to improve the business and pass it onto the 7th generation.

To enter, Applicants must submit a short 1 minute video that demonstrates their filming and production skills, and their creativity. The video must show people enjoying at least two outdoor activities such as surfing, snorkeling, swimming, biking, bushwalking, kayaking, climbing and diving in a location of the applicant’s choice. The video should be ‘soft sell documentary’ in style and entice the viewer to come to that location and try the activities. Videos must be suitable for uploading to our Youtube page for judging, and submitted to Luke Hanson at luke@pinetrees.com.au.

Applicants must also send CV to with a cover letter explaining why they would like to be considered for the project. Pinetrees Lodge will close for renovations from mid-June to mid-August 2014.  For further information and a copy of the job brief visit: www.pinetrees.com.au.