Irishman seeks post at world’s coldest mail office

An Irishman is waiting to hear if his application for a seasonal job in the world’s most southerly and possibly coldest post office has been successful.

Anthony Galvin from Co Clare but living in Cork, is one of over 1,000 people who have applied for four positions on Goudier Island off the Antarctic Peninsula where there is no running water, mains power and only limited communications — but plenty of penguins.

The successful team of four will spend next November to March, running a shop, post office, maintenance and museum operation at Port Lockroy for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.

About 18,000 people visit the tiny island each Antarctic summer amounting to two ship visits per day. Around 70,000 cards are posted each year to over 100 countries usually taking two to six weeks to arrive.

The author, magician and children’s entertainer knows the competition will be stiff but one advantage he has is that he has spent up to six weeks every year for the past two decades in Arctic Finland.

“I have always been obsessed with polar exploration, even as a child. Twenty years ago I got the chance to work in Lapland, in Arctic Finland, and I go there every December. I work as a magician at a Santa village. The main attraction is living in the Arctic, sometimes for up to six weeks.”

“I love the snow, the cold, the northern lights, the wilderness. I have been out in temperatures as low as minus 45C, and love it. You throw a cup of coffee in the air and it freezes before it hits the ground,” Anthony said.

“I have hiked in Iceland and the Himalayas, and have climbed Ben Nevis in mid-winter where it’s minus 15 at ground level.

“I have written a book about the history of the North Pole (The Great Polar Fraud), so my obsession runs deep,” he says.

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