A St Andrews University geography graduate who has travelled 11,000 miles to help run the most southerly post office in the world has celebrated the festive period by having a second swim in her bikini in the freezing Antarctic waters.
Amy Kincaid, 23, from Oban, has taken up the job with the UK Antarctica Heritage Trust (UKAHT) for four months, and in a new blog from the remote spot said she had taken the plunge in the sea, where even at this time of year the temperature is barely above freezing.
She is one of four staff members manning the office in Port Lockroy, part of the British Antarctica Territory and with 2,000 “smelly” penguins for company.
“Luckily the ice comes and goes,” Amy wrote.
“We have been very fortunate to have two stunningly beautiful days of weather. On Friday we were too hot in just T-shirts!
“It even inspired my second swim in the sea, but the water temperature is definitely not warmer than last time!”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LDbsPC2Kxgo%3Frel%3D0
As part of their job, staff have to sweep the path clear of prodigious amounts of penguin poo.
The other team members are Sarah Auffret, base leader having been in charge of wildlife monitoring, the museum and waste management at Port Lockroy last year Liesl Schernthanner, who has worked with the UKAHT for two seasons as a conservator, and Antarctica rookie Stephen Skinner, a freelance outdoor instructor.
Amy, the only Scot, worked in an outdoor shop after leaving school, before spending six months in rural Ecuador teaching in a primary school and working on a farm.
She recently graduated from St Andrews University, where she spent her free time pursuing various outdoor activities and travelling.
Most of the mail handled by the post office consists of postcards sent from visiting cruise ships.
They are franked and, because the area is part of the British Antarctic Territory, the post goes to the Falklands, and is then distributed from the UK.
When Amy applied for the job, she beat 90 other applicants from around the world.
The job advert said: “Are you happy not to shower for up to a month, live in close proximity to three people and 2,000 smelly penguins for five months?”
Port Lockroy stands on a grizzled outcrop named Goudier Island, 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, even though the post office is only open during the Antarctic summer.