Antarctica: Fancy a job in the most remote post office in the world?
- Published
The most remote post office in the world is also home to a colony of penguins!
Four women have been chosen out of a total 6,000 people who applied to run the most remote post office in the world.
The post office is at Port Lockroy, on Goudier Island in the Antarctica - which is home to a colony of Gentoo penguins!
Part of the job will also be counting the penguins on the island, and running the island's gift shop.
The area has no running water, or a flushing toilet, but the four women say they can't wait to go!
'A lifelong dream'
The conditions in the Antarctic are tough for humans - but great for penguins!
This is what Lucy Bruzzone - the base leader - said about the trip.
She's a scientist who has already spent three months in Svalbard on an Arctic expedition - so she's no stranger to low temperatures!
However Natalie Corbett, who will be in charge of the gift shop, is fairly new to icy expeditions.
What's it like to live in Antarctica?
She will be leaving behind her retail job in Hampshire to take part in the mission.
The other team members include Mairi Hilton, a conservation biologist, and Clare Ballantyne, who just completed a masters in earth science at Oxford University.
What will they be doing on the trip?
The Antarctic is also home to different types of seal - such as the elephant seal
The team will travel 9,000 miles and stay on the island for five months.
As well as the post office, they will also be helping open up Port Lockroy, which has been closed since the Coronavirus pandemic.
They will get a special talk from a 'penguinologist', to help them with the counting of all the island's penguins.
The four women will be spending Christmas together - and will be facing sub-zero temperatures and constant daylight, due to the Antarctic's location.
What's in the Antarctic?
Would you work in the most remote post office in the world?
Mairi Hilton - the team's conservation biologist - says she can't wait to see penguins, seabirds and whales.
The Antarctic has very harsh conditions - including extremely low temperatures.
It's mainly home to penguins and seals, as well as orcas and blue whales!
Icy conditions
The four women will be able to see all sorts of animals on their trip
The Antarctic is mainly made up of a huge ice sheet - which is the largest single piece of ice on earth!
There's also huge mountains there - some of which are higher than 4,500 meters high.
The temperature ranges between lows of minus 30 degrees Celsius to highs of 9 degrees!
The women heading on the trip will also be able to see huge glaciers, and the Fief mountain range.
- Published8 June 2022
- Published7 December 2021
