'Fantastic opportunity' to have penguin colony as neighbours

Working beside a colony of penguins is not often in any job description but a team of dedicated volunteers are making the 9,000-mile journey to Antarctica to protect a British science base.

The team will be based on Goudier Island, which is about the size of a football pitch, for five months to carry out significant repairs on Port Lockroy - home of the world's most remote Post Office.

Royal Air Force veteran Carole McCullough, who is leading the group, said while she will miss her daily runs, it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

"I will just open the door and look at the beautiful surroundings and our local neighbours are a massive penguin colony, so that will be fantastic," she said.

The Port Lockroy facility is more than 80 years old and needs significant repairs due to its age and environmental factors such as increased rainfall, water flow and snow loading, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) has said.

This is the second year of the UKAHT's three-year mission to protect the historic base and the team will make the trip at the end of October.

McCullough, who is from County Down, decided to apply for the position to "work at the UK's most remote post office in Antarctica" after hearing about it on the news.

She said the "more I read, the more I thought this is the most fantastic opportunity".

"To work for a charity in the Antarctic is fantastic and we are supporting that link from the past to the present day, making sure the heritage is still there for future generations," she said.

The crew will share a bunk room and will have to put up with no running water or flushing toilets, while working in almost constant daylight and sub-zero conditions.

The UKAHT said that chocolate, packet soup and mini-watercolour sets will make up much of the team's entertainment during their five-month stay.

"I love chocolate so I made sure I sent some over. We will be there over my birthday and Christmas so I have a few presents also," McCullough told BBC News NI.

First aid training, a sea survival course and talks on penguinology are all essential parts of the training for the eight-person team.

The crew will be carrying out repair work as well as running the world's most southern post office, museum and gift shop.

They will also install up to six beams on the roof and 30 steel and timber props in the floor to help it withstand increased precipitation and snow.

The crew will also be monitoring the colony of more than a thousand Gentoo penguins that live on the island.

The base is in the most southern continent and is there to protect Britain's first permanent scientific base from the effects of climate change

Base A Port Lockroy was originally established in 1944 as part of a secret wartime mission to establish a presence on the continent but is now a designated heritage site.

The team will also be sent to another base called Wordie House, which is the site of the only continuous record of the climate there since the 1940s.

It is still used to record climate changes today.