Four women from the UK are set for a five months in Antarctica looking after a shop, sending post cards and caring for penguins, having beaten 4,000 candidates to run the world's most remote Post Office and Museum.

The specialist team will travel to Port Lockroy for the first time since the COVID-19 Pandemic with duties including managing the shop which sells souvenirs and postcards; being postmaster; and monitoring the local wildlife.

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Having to live without running water and flushing toilet, they will share the football-pitch sized Goudier Island with a colony of gentoo penguins. They'll also have to deal with sub-zero temperatures and almost continuous daylight.

Solo honeymoon

Natalie Corbett was delighted with her new shop manager role, despite her recent commitments at home!

"I'll be leaving behind my husband, George, who I only married in June so I'm treating this like my solo honeymoon. 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?"

The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is overseeing the project. Other team members making the 14,484 kilometers trip include:

• Clare Ballantyne (Postmaster) - dealing with 80,000 postcards by hand mailed each year from Port Lockroy to over 100 countries

• Mairi Hilton (Wildlife Monitor) - in charge of counting the penguin population and watching new hatchlings and nests

• Lucy Bruzzone (Base Leader) 

• Vicky Inglis – returning member helping the team settle into new environment for the first 10 weeks

The team will begin their training in Cambridge, England later this month, consisting of briefings from a 'Penguinologist', remote first aid training and understanding the specifics of each role. 

The team will depart for the Antarctic in early November and will live and work in Port Lockroy until March 2023, including spending Christmas together. 

 

Penguins, seabirds and whales

Camilla Nichol, UKAHT CEO, added: "After receiving a record response to the opportunity to join our first Port Lockroy team since COVID, we're so pleased to have appointed such a capable team. 

"Each team member has a keen sense of adventure and genuine love of Antarctica. It will be a challenging role as they will be living in a remote part of the world for five months, but they will play an essential part in bringing Port Lockroy and its museum to life."

UKAHT's role is to protect and preserve British Antarctic heritage on the Antarctic Peninsula for future generations and Port Lockroy is one of the six heritage sites managed by the charity. It was visited by around 18,000 tourists annually prior to the pandemic.

In addition to providing practical care of the building and the artefacts inside, part of UKAHT's role in Antarctica is to monitor the impact on wildlife including capturing data on the resident gentoo penguins - part of a long term study of the breeding success of the colony. 

It also records the number of visitors and ships in the area and, in accordance with the Antarctic Treaty, follows strict guidelines to ensure the environment is properly cared for. 

Ballantyne, the postmaster, has just completed a Master's Degree in Earth Sciences. "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!"

Hilton, the wildlife monitor, has spent the last four years completing a PhD in conservation biology in Australia. 

She said: "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? I'm a conservation biologist, so personally I can't wait to see the penguins and other wildlife like seabirds and whales!”