Living in the tropics, I’ve forgotten what it is like to experience really cold weather.
The internet became my trusty go-to for information about living in cold desolate places, for my next novel,
I discovered a place where people choose to live for five months at a time, in the freezing cold, without internet or proper phone service and no running water. People much hardier than me.
Port Lockroy, a tiny settlement on a snow covered rock along the northwest coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, known as Goudier Island, has the most southerly, functioning post office in the world.
It is maintained by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, and thousands of people apply for positions each year.
There has been a post office there since the 1940s. Set up initially to claim territory for the British Empire. Well known by stamp collectors around the world, the post office was one of a couple of places that issued a special one-square-inch stamp bearing a profile of King George VI and a map of British Antarctic Territory printed in green ink. One stamp collector described the place as the “loneliest post office in the world.” However, there are a number of interviews with the men who manned the post office in the early days, and they all say that it was one of the best experiences of their lives.
As chance would have it, the interviews for positions at Port Lockroy are this month. If you fancy penguins as neighbours it might be the perfect job for you!
Photo credit: NEIL MCALLISTER / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Map: UKAHT
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