Penguin post! Four women to travel 11,000 miles to work in a post office in ANTARCTICA
FOUR women set out to travel 11,000 miles today to run the world's most southerly post office - in ANTARCTICA.
They were among more than 50 people applied for the job at Port Lockroy.
The chosen team of four must have the ability to put up with 2000 smelly penguins for company - and the job involves clearing their poo from the surrounding path.
Those attracted to operating the seasonal outpost at Port Lockroy on the frozen continent were also warned that they may have to go two weeks without a shower.
The four assistant jobs at Port Lockroy command a monthly salary of £1100 and operate between November and March. It will take around two weeks by plane and boat for the team to reach their destination.
The team includes Laura MacNeil, 37, from Lentran near Inverness who has travelled extensively and has experience in coping with extreme environments.
After graduating, Ms MacNeil travelled for a year in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, working primarily in outback Western Australia.
Upon returning to Scotland she obtained a PCV licence and worked for more than 10 years, driving and guiding coach tours of the Highlands and leading groups. During this time she also became a qualified PCV driver instructor.
Ms MacNeil has just completed a year studying for an MSc in Information and library studies. She has also lived and studied in Russia.
As well as Ms MacNeil, the new team comprises leader Adele Jackson from Clayton West in Huddersfield, Hannelore Cuypers, originally from Belgium and is a dentist in Norway, and Lucy Dorman, originally from Oxfordshire, but now spends her year in constant winter by moving between New Zealand and Canada bi-annually.
Post office staff hand frank 80,000 postcards and letters to send to more than 100 countries from the Penguin Post Office.
The team of four spend five months from November to March running the shop, post office and museum operation at Port Lockroy, which is visited by about 18,000 cruise ship passengers each season.
Port Lockroy stands on a grizzled outcrop named Goudier Island, which is the size of a primary school playing field.
There is no running water, no mains electricity, and the average temperature is minus 10 degrees centigrade.
There is also no central heating, no phone signal, and no means of communication with the world other than VHF radio.
And no darkness, either - being the southernmost tip of the globe, it is daylight almost 24 hours a day.
The team will also be responsible for the care and maintenance of the museum and overall site, as well as monitoring any impact on the local wildlife, which includes carrying out surveys of the resident gentoo penguin colony.
In accordance with the Antarctic Treaty, they will also ensure strict guidelines on the care of the environment are adhered to.