A team of four women is heading to Antarctica. They are abandoning the comforts of home to run the world’s most remote post office and count penguins. Here’s all about their incredible mission.
Why are they traveling to Antarctica?
Four women are traveling to Antarctica to take up vital jobs such as counting penguins and running the world’s most remote post office. Clare Ballantyne, Lucy Bruzzone, Mairi Hilton, and Natali Corbette beat several other applicants to become the team responsible for Port Lockroy, on Goudier Island. Abandoning the simple comforts of home, they will be working in the region without access to a flushing toilet or running water.
Corbett, a newlywed, runs the gift shop at the historic site. “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,” she stated. Corbett has over a decade’s experience working in retail and could not resist the opportunity despite getting married in June.
The team will be dealing with the region’s sub-zero temperatures and constant daylight. Additionally, they are sharing the island with a colony of gentoo penguins. “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?” stated Ms. Hilton. “I’m a conservation biologist, so I can’t wait to see the penguins and other wildlife like seabirds and whales,” she added.
More on their mission on the island
The women are among over 6,000 people who expressed interest in the roles advertised by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. They will be on the island for the next five months taking care of Port Lockroy. The charity’s flagship site is the home to the most remote post office and museum in the world. They will be receiving training which will include remote first aid and talk from a penguinologist. They will then travel 9,000 miles to reopen the bay for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Ballantyne, the newly appointed postmaster is a recent graduate of a Masters’s program in Earth Science from Oxford University. She is tasked with dealing with almost 80,000 cards mailed to the site from over 100 nations. “I’m most looking forward to stepping onto 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” stated the 23-year-old.