Four women to run world's most remote post office and count penguins in Antarctica

With everything that’s going on in the world, nobody would blame you if you dreamed of running off to a remote part of the world and getting away from it all.

For four women, that dream is about to come true as they have been selected to run the world's most remote post office and count penguins in Antarctica.

The women, Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett and Lucy Bruzzone, were the four selected by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust charity out of 6,000 candidates who expressed an interest in the opportunity.

Their job will be to look after the historic site of Port Lockroy, on Goudier Island – a tiny rock of an island in the Antarctic

The site has no electricity or flushing toilet facilities and the four will be sleeping in bunk beds for the five months they’re there. The quad will also have to deal with sub-zero temperatures and near-constant daylight.

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But, they won’t be entirely alone as they will share the island with its other inhabitants – a colony of gentoo penguins.

Hilton, who will be in charge of monitoring the penguins, said: “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?”

She continued: “I'm a conservation biologist, so personally I can't wait to see the penguins and other wildlife like seabirds and whales.”

Ballantyne, 23, who will sort the post office’s annual approximately 80,000 letters, said; “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.”

For the first 10 weeks, the women will be joined by Vicky Inglis, who has previously stayed on the island and will act as a general manager.

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