It’s minus 20 degrees Celsius with no running water, toilets or showers… so why did I have to fight thousands of people for a job 9,000 miles away?

Would you go to the end of the world to work in sub-zero temperatures, without running water and with just five other people in the company?

Peter Watson, 42, has recently returned from a season on one of the world’s most remote islands – 9,000 miles from his home, partner and family in London. But he was lucky to get the role – thousands of applicants vied for the unique and coveted position. And recruitment for next year is already in full swing.

Port Lockroy, on small Gaudier Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, is run by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, which appoints a new team each year to staff the cold outpost.

Working on Port Lockroy was a dream come true for Peter – every year thousands of people apply for certain positions at the Antarctic base, which is home to a small museum and the world’s southernmost post office, as well as over a thousand gentoo penguins.

And his only job was counting penguins day after day for just £1,500 a month.

Antarctica can feel a bit like a drug. I feel like going back as soon as I leave

peter watson

He spent three months on Port Lockroy as part of a team of only four or five people, living and working in sub-zero temperatures.

The team survives without running water, relying on the generosity of passing ships for the occasional bath or fresh food – the chance to drink non-powdered milk or snack on the occasional piece of cheese is particularly desirable.

Peter visited the icy continent sometime in 2022 while working as a travel writer and was mesmerized by what he saw there.

“Antarctica can feel a bit addictive,” says Peter. “As soon as you leave, you want to go back.”

Originally from Norfolk, but now living in London, Peter was “delighted” when he learned he had got the job and would spend the season as the island’s resident penguin-counter.

It took about a week to reach the rocky terrain – first flying to Buenos Aires and then flying to Ushuaia, the southern tip of Argentina.

From there it was a four-day journey to the infamous Fly The passage, a deep and dangerous stretch of ocean connecting South America to Antarctica – where giant waves have killed some 20,000 sailors over the years.

Then the final stage of the journey to the Penguin Counter was to travel in a small rubber dinghy to bring him ashore.

Peter says: “When I first saw the island, it was a beautiful day and it absolutely met all my expectations.”

But after landing at Port Lockroy they did not have much time to admire the Antarctic scenery as tourists were already arriving.

A limited number of visitors are allowed to visit the island’s small museum and view the penguins from a safe distance.

Peter said: “I went and dropped my bag and went straight into the deep end because we had visitors coming to the shore.

“So right away I got a chance to say hello briefly to the penguins. But then within an hour I was welcoming visitors to the museum.

“It was really a beautiful experience and a beautiful landing. I couldn’t have asked for a better day to do it.”

Soon after arriving, Peter began to interact with the playful animals he was observing.

He said, “I think everyone talks to penguins – it happens in a matter of days, if not hours.”

“For me, I was talking to the people I met first. And the last thing I did when leaving the island was say goodbye to them.”

Penguin-counters learned about the personalities of the cute creatures, giving names to the chicks with the biggest characters.

Aggie was known for being a bit aggressive, Fluffball “really took time to grow up”, and Judy Garland was born in Rainbow Rock.

Jackson Pollock was the most artistic penguin girl.

Peter said: “There was another guy called Jackson who was very creative with his guano streams while defecating.

“It was a really incredible mess. So we named him after Jackson Pollock.”

Every day – including Christmas, New Year and his birthday, his most important job was to count the number of adorable gentoo penguins.

“I got to celebrate three festivals, and I got to spend every day of them with some of the most fascinating creatures on the planet,” Peter said.

“The real joy of working with the penguins up there is that you don’t just get a snapshot of them.

“You can see them grow and go through their whole cycle.

“Every time I thought they’d done their cutest thing, they’d go and beat it and do something even cuter.”

He watched in amazement as the parent penguins carefully constructed their pebble nests and guarded them ferociously before laying the eggs. Then came that magical moment when the chicks started hatching.

Describing the baby hatching for the first time, Peter said: “It was absolutely delightful, just watching his little beak come out and fall out.” shell.

“Later in the season, there were some happy moments where I watched a penguin on this nest for a long time with two eggs – I was starting to lose faith that they would make it.

“Then I visited one day and there was only one egg and one chick, and then I visited a few days later and there were two chicks. And it was like, ‘Awesome, guys. I’m so proud of you.’

“But I think for me, my favorite moment – ​​following them from eggs to babies, to babies – was when they started learning to swim.”

Parent penguins lure their babies to rocky pebble beaches, where they learn to swim in the shallow depths of small rocky springs – and at first, Peter said, “they’re awesome”.

He said: “You see them scurrying around, spinning in circles, banging their heads, bumping into each other.

“And you think, how are these guys going to go out and spend the winter alone in just a few weeks? But they do.

“And suddenly they’re ready to go – it’s really a magical moment seeing them hatch from the eggs, then initially seeing them turn into these helpless little chicks that can’t even make noise or protect themselves. Then suddenly they’re going out and spending the whole winter away.”

However, it’s not all cute and fluffy at Port Lockroy. Working 9,000 miles away from your loved ones is hard.

“It’s challenging. There’s no question about it. I have a partner and a family, so it was challenging to leave them and be away from them,” Peter said.

There is limited internet at the base, so he kept in touch as much as possible on WhatsApp and email, but it was difficult.

The Penguin-Counter had the solution to any blues you might be feeling at Port Lockroy.

He said: “Every time you start feeling a little sad or a little tired, you can just take a walk.

“It only takes 10 or 15 minutes to go completely around the island.

“But if you just go out for a walk… the best tonic for feeling a little blues is to spend some time with penguins.”

After watching penguin chicks hatch from eggs and learn to swim, Peter’s team’s time on the island “ended with some moist eyes as we walked off the pier for the last time, most of us had sunglasses on”.

He was sad to say goodbye to Antarctica and his penguins, but excited to be reunited with his partner and a flushing toilet.

Nevertheless, he is keen to return for another season of work on Port Lockroy and join thousands of other applicants by getting the chance to do so.