To anyone who’s feeling a bit tired of their job, is craving some proper peace and quiet, and just wants to switch off for a while, listen up. The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust is recruiting new members for its Antarctic team, and applications are open.
Yes, you read that right. Port Lockroy in Antarctica, the charity’s flagship site, is once again hiring people to fill the roles of base leader, shop manager, wildlife monitor and, of course, postmaster for the upcoming season from November 2024 to March 2025.
Port Lockroy celebrated its 80th anniversary last month, and it was originally set up as a secret World War Two mission back in 1944. In fact, it’s is the oldest permanent British base on the Antarctic peninsula.
But the place doesn’t just have a cool history. The island it’s perched on, Gouider, is about the size of a football pitch, and is home to a colony of gentoo penguins. It welcomes up to 16,000 visitors per year.
Intrigued? Well, according to the job descriptions, the charity is after people who aren’t just passionate about Antarctica, but who are resilient, physically fit, and can uphold strict protocols, too. You’ll also have to endure round-the-clock daylight and no flushing toilet or running water for the whole five months. Oh, and did we mention it might be a bit nippy?
Freezing temperatures and distance from home (almost 16,000km to be exact) aside, this opportunity is pretty mega. Camilla Nichol, CEO of UK Antarctic Heritage Trust said: ‘This is a unique opportunity to live in a landscape that makes you feel pure awe and wonder, where pioneering generations have gone before us making ground-breaking discoveries about our planet.’
And pure awe and wonder is pretty accurate – have a look at some snaps of Port Lockroy below.
Applications are open to UK residents until March 18 and training kicks off in August. You can apply here.
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