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  1. #1
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    Neo's Avatar
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    An Australian couple who raffled off their tropical island home pick the winner



    An Australian couple who decided to raffle off their tropical island resort have picked a winner.

    Tickets cost $49 (£37.33) and more than 50,000 people entered the competition.

    Up for grabs was the 16-room Kosrae Nautilus Resort on the remote Micronesian island of Kosrae.

    It's been home to Doug and Sally Beitz since the 1990s but they want move back to Australia to enjoy being grandparents.

    The draw was streamed live online and the winner is a bloke named Joshua.


    The red pin points to their tiny island which you can't even see on this map

    There was a slight moment of anticlimax after Doug drew the winning ticket.
    He tried to get in touch with Joshua but he wasn't in.

    The winner was eventually tracked down on his mobile and given the good news.



    When Doug asked where in the world Joshua was from, there was a huge cheer when Joshua replied: "Australia".

    Not much else is known apart from his first name (and he's from New South Wales) because the couple want to
    protect him from media interest until he's got his head round the news.


    There are direct flights daily from Guam and Hawaii

    Before the prize draw, which had 75,485 entrants, the couple explained they didn't want to sell their home in the normal way because that would've been "really boring".

    "We've tried to market it in a way where we are attracting people like ourselves," said Doug Beitz.

    The former firefighter said he was hoping the winner would be "someone who likes warm weather, likes meeting new people from around the world and is adventurous".


    A night at the resort costs around £90 and is popular with surfers and divers

    "It's a big life change," he said talking about living on the tropical island.

    It lies north of the Solomon Islands and southwest of Hawaii and is home to about 6,500 people.

    The competition website says the resort, which is popular for diving and fishing, is debt-free and profitable, employs 16 full-time staff and has $10,000 (£7,618) cash in the business bank account.
    Fancy owning your own restaurant?

    The prize includes the manager's four-bedroom residence, five rental cars, two 10-seater vans, a pick-up truck and the resort restaurant.

    The Beitz family originally said a minimum of 50,000 tickets would need to be sold for the contest to go ahead but they removed this requirement after the raffle began attracting global interest.

    Doug and Sally's son Adam said it was his idea to stage a raffle to allow someone else the chance to live in paradise and run their own business.

    "Everyone has crazy ideas, this one just wouldn't leave me alone," he told Australia's Channel 7 earlier this month.
    "The thought of selling it in a traditional way is really boring."


    A close-up of the island...

    Doug and Sally Beitz moved to Kosrae with their three young children in 1994 after seeing the island on a TV documentary.

    They'll return to Queensland as millionaires after selling more than the original allocation of tickets.

    With more than 75,000 sold, they walk away with nearly £3m before costs.

    An Australian couple who raffled off their tropical island home pick the winner - BBC Newsbeat
    Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"

  2. #2
    god
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    Lucky bloke.

  3. #3
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    Ratchaburi's Avatar
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    Good on them

  4. #4
    R.I.P. Luigi's Avatar
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    Hope he doesn't immediately sell it for cash.

  5. #5
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Nice spot but damn sure in the middle of nowhere. Costs of running the place must be astronomical.

  6. #6
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    Bower's Avatar
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    Good luck to him

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat terry57's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Luigi View Post

    Hope he doesn't immediately sell it for cash.

    It may be a good idea to do that because if he ain't a hard core business man he will lose it anyway.

    Numpties and business just don't work.

  8. #8
    god
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    True enough.

  9. #9
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    Ratchaburi's Avatar
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    Its out past Nauru some where.
    I have spent a month on Nauru 15 years ago & the only beer you could by VB or Fosters.
    If you eat food at mzny places Round the Island you would sit on shitter for 2 days.
    Clean water was a problem.
    At the detention centres the food was average but you did not have to sit on the toilet for 2 days

  10. #10
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neo
    The former firefighter said he was hoping the winner would be "someone who likes warm weather, likes meeting new people from around the world and is adventurous".
    Quote Originally Posted by terry57
    Numpties and business just don't work.
    Works for some.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neo
    A night at the resort costs around £90



    Fuck me, I've seen Terry stay in better rooms than that

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dillinger View Post

    Fuck me, I've seen Terry stay in better rooms than that
    That is just one big lie!

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat terry57's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dillinger View Post




    Fuck me, I've seen Terry stay in better rooms than that


    That's spot on Dill,

    On one occasion I actually stayed in a 5 star in Vietnam, upgraded to a club room where ya get free piss and munchies for a few hours in the arvo.

    Bint paid though,

    I'm not wasting my Super on that shite.

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat terry57's Avatar
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    [quote=Norton;3317812]
    Quote Originally Posted by Neo
    The former firefighter said he was hoping the winner would be "someone who likes warm weather, likes meeting new people from around the world and is adventurous".

    Fook me,

    All the Firefighters I knew hated warm weather and were highly unsociable unless they where talking to Wayan whilst drinking piss in Bali.

    That was their big Adventure.

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