Four women will embark on a journey to the icy continent of Antarctica to take up jobs in the world’s most remote post office, which would include watching the island’s penguins.
A record number of people applied to be in the team in charge of administering Port Lockroy on Goudier Island. In the end, Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett, and Lucy Bruzzone won.
The group will forgo modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and a flushing toilet to accomplish their work in the areas. Corbett, the newlywed in charge of the gift shop, has decided to go on a “solo honeymoon”, leaving her spouse behind.
Ms Hilton’s duties include keeping an eye on a colony of gentoo penguins as she and the other ladies endure the island’s sub-zero temperatures and near-constant daylight.
“This will be my first time in Antarctica, and I’m very excited to set eyes on the white continent. I have no idea what to expect when we get there – how cold it will be. Will we have to dig our way through the snow to the post office?” Ms Hilton, from Scotland, said.
“I’m a conservation biologist, so personally I can’t wait to see the penguins and other wildlife like seabirds and whales.”
The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) charity advertised the four positions, and over six thousand people responded.
During their five-month stay on the island, the group will take care of Port , the most distant post office and museum in the world, as well as celebrate Christmas together.
The team will travel over 9,000 miles to restore the bay after it had been closed due to the epidemic. In preparation, they will learn remote first aid and hear from a “penguinologist.”
Ms Ballantyne, the site’s new postmaster, recently earned a master’s degree in earth science at Oxford University and will personally process the 80,000 greeting cards sent from the site each year to more than 100 nations.
“I’m most looking forward to stepping on to Goudier Island and taking in the cacophony and pungent smell of the penguins, the backdrop of the glaciers and Fief mountains – and being able to call it home for the next few months,” the 23-year-old from Lincolnshire said.
Ms. Corbett, who has been in the retail industry for over a decade and who just got married in June, said that she could not pass up the opportunity to work on the island.
“Who wouldn’t want to spend five months working on an island filled with penguins in one of the most remote places on the planet? I’ll be leaving behind my husband, George, who I only married in June, so I’m treating this like my solo honeymoon,” the 31-year-old from Hampshire said.
Ms. Bruzzone will act as base chief, supervising the island’s crew and coordinating visits from ships.
This is a “lifelong dream” come true for the scientist, who has already spent three months on an Arctic trip in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
In the 2019/ 2020 season, general assistant Vicky Inglis will join the team and help get things rolling during the first ten weeks.
“Port Lockroy holds a very particular place in my heart,” Ms. Inglis, a 42-year-old native of Aberdeenshire who began working for UKAHT full-time in the summer, said. “Having spent five months out there before the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m excited to be travelling with the new team to introduce them to the magic of the Antarctic.”
Leave a Reply