Bristol festival worker to become Antarctic postmaster

A man whose usual job involves setting up big tops at music festivals is preparing to run the world’s most southerly post office in Antarctica.

George Clarke, 34, from Bristol, who has never worked in a post office, said: “I’m used to working away, working abroad in crews, but nothing like this.”

The interview process involved “lots of weird and wonderful tasks”, he said, including having to put up a tent while blindfolded and wearing oven mitts.

Mr Clarke will spend five months living with four other workers on Port Lockroy, alongside the resident Gentoo penguin colony.

Mr Clarke told BBC Radio Bristol he had always had an interest in the outdoors, but added: “This is in a league of its own. It’s a brand new adventure.”

He applied for the role after reading an article about last year’s Antarctic postmaster.

“I thought, ‘Wow, what a great opportunity that sounds’ and then it just clicked in my head, why not give it a go?” he said.

His team of five will be staffing the world’s most southerly museum and post office on the football-pitch-sized Goudier Island, off the Antarctic peninsula below South America.

While there is internet on the base, Mr Clarke said they had decided as a group to embrace the remote location and not use it much.

“Part of the joy about going to such a remote location is being slightly cut off from the world.

“So I certainly don’t think we’ll be scrolling on our phones every evening.”

He added: “I’m a keen artist, I draw. I know we’ve got people bringing down knitting needles and puzzles, and there’s a small library on the base where people can bring books.

“So we’ve all decided to bring one of our favourite novels, one of our favourite non-fiction books, and swap those around.”

Mr Clarke said working in a post office was “going to be a bit of a learning experience”.

His role will be processing the letters and postcards left by those who stop at the tiny wooden museum from up to two cruise ships a day.

“So I’ll be sorting through the mail, cancelling the stamps, and then sending them on via passing cruise ships,” he said.

The team, which also consists of wildlife monitor Maggie Coll, base leader Lou Hoskin, museum manager Aoife McKenna and shop manager Dale Ellis, will soon leave the UK and travel to Argentina, where they will spend a few days before taking a boat through the rough waters of the Drake passage.

A few days later they will arrive at Port Lockroy, where they will spend five months among freezing and near-constant daylight.

Mr Clarke said: “It’s not like anything I’ve done, so how prepared can you be for such a new, a unique experience? I’m going in with an open mind.”

He said he was most looking forward to enjoying his morning coffee overlooking the Antarctic landscape and “hopefully seeing a whale or two”.