{"id":58961,"date":"2026-04-12T16:02:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/12\/its-minus-20-degrees-celsius-with-no-running-water-toilets-or-showers-so-why-did-i-have-to-fight-thousands-of-people-for-a-job-9000-miles-away\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T16:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:03:20","slug":"its-minus-20-degrees-celsius-with-no-running-water-toilets-or-showers-so-why-did-i-have-to-fight-thousands-of-people-for-a-job-9000-miles-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/12\/its-minus-20-degrees-celsius-with-no-running-water-toilets-or-showers-so-why-did-i-have-to-fight-thousands-of-people-for-a-job-9000-miles-away\/","title":{"rendered":"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?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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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? <\/p>\n

Peter Watson, 42, has recently returned from a season on one of the world’s most remote islands \u2013 9,000 miles from his home, partner and family in London. But he was lucky to get the role \u2013 thousands of applicants vied for the unique and coveted position. And recruitment for next year is already in full swing.<\/p>\n

Peter Watson moved 9,000 miles around the world to become a wildlife monitor in Port Lockroy<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The British base is home to about a thousand gentoo penguins<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
It was Peter’s job to count the penguins – and he started talking to them too<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Working on Port Lockroy was a dream come true for Peter \u2013 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. <\/p>\n

And his only job was counting penguins day after day for just \u00a31,500 a month.<\/p>\n

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Antarctica can feel a bit like a drug. I feel like going back as soon as I leave<\/p>\n

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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. <\/p>\n

The team survives without running water, relying on the generosity of passing ships for the occasional bath or fresh food \u2013 the chance to drink non-powdered milk or snack on the occasional piece of cheese is particularly desirable.<\/p>\n

Peter visited the icy continent sometime in 2022 while working as a travel writer and was mesmerized by what he saw there. <\/p>\n

\u201cAntarctica can feel a bit addictive,\u201d says Peter. \u201cAs soon as you leave, you want to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

It took about a week to reach the rocky terrain \u2013 first flying to Buenos Aires and then flying to Ushuaia, the southern tip of Argentina.<\/p>\n

From there it was a four-day journey to the infamous Fly<\/span> The passage, a deep and dangerous stretch of ocean connecting South America to Antarctica \u2013 where giant waves have killed some 20,000 sailors over the years.<\/p>\n

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Then the final stage of the journey to the Penguin Counter was to travel in a small rubber dinghy to bring him ashore.<\/p>\n

Peter says: \u201cWhen I first saw the island, it was a beautiful day and it absolutely met all my expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after landing at Port Lockroy they did not have much time to admire the Antarctic scenery as tourists were already arriving.<\/p>\n

A limited number of visitors are allowed to visit the island’s small museum and view the penguins from a safe distance.<\/p>\n

Port Lockroy on tiny Gaudier Island off the Antarctic Peninsula<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Peter told The Sun: ‘I think everyone talks to Penguin \u2013 it’s a matter of days if not hours.’<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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’<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peter said: \u201cI went and dropped my bag and went straight into the deep end because we had visitors coming to the shore. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo 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.<\/p>\n

“It was really a beautiful experience and a beautiful landing. I couldn’t have asked for a better day to do it.”<\/p>\n

Soon after arriving, Peter began to interact with the playful animals he was observing. <\/p>\n

He said, “I think everyone talks to penguins \u2013 it happens in a matter of days, if not hours.” <\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Penguin-counters learned about the personalities of the cute creatures, giving names to the chicks with the biggest characters.<\/p>\n

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

Jackson Pollock was the most artistic penguin girl. <\/p>\n

Peter said: \u201cThere was another guy called Jackson who was very creative with his guano streams while defecating. <\/p>\n

“It was a really incredible mess. So we named him after Jackson Pollock.”<\/p>\n

Peter penguin chicks also named after the biggest celebrities<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A chick was named ‘Fluffball’ after it took a while to shed its fluff<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Another penguin chick was called Jackson Pollock for his guano art<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every day \u2013 including Christmas, New Year and his birthday, his most important job was to count the number of adorable gentoo penguins. <\/p>\n

“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. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe real joy of working with the penguins up there is that you don’t just get a snapshot of them. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see them grow and go through their whole cycle. <\/p>\n

“Every time I thought they’d done their cutest thing, they’d go and beat it and do something even cuter.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Describing the baby hatching for the first time, Peter said: \u201cIt was absolutely delightful, just watching his little beak come out and fall out.\u201d shell<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLater in the season, there were some happy moments where I watched a penguin on this nest for a long time with two eggs \u2013 I was starting to lose faith that they would make it.<\/p>\n

“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.’<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think for me, my favorite moment \u2013 \u200b\u200bfollowing them from eggs to babies, to babies \u2013 was when they started learning to swim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parent penguins lure their babies to rocky pebble beaches, where they learn to swim in the shallow depths of small rocky springs \u2013 and at first, Peter said, “they’re awesome”.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cYou see them scurrying around, spinning in circles, banging their heads, bumping into each other. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you think, how are these guys going to go out and spend the winter alone in just a few weeks? But they do. <\/p>\n

“And suddenly they’re ready to go \u2013 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.”<\/p>\n

Penguin-counter describes watching chicks hatch as ‘absolutely delightful’<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Peter had the pleasure of watching the children throughout the season, from when they were babies to when they were ready to go out to sea on their own<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Penguin babies learn to swim in the shallow depths of a small rockpool<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

“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.<\/p>\n

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

The Penguin-Counter had the solution to any blues you might be feeling at Port Lockroy. <\/p>\n

He said: \u201cEvery time you start feeling a little sad or a little tired, you can just take a walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt only takes 10 or 15 minutes to go completely around the island. <\/p>\n

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

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”.<\/p>\n

He was sad to say goodbye to Antarctica and his penguins, but excited to be reunited with his partner and a flushing toilet. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For starters, Peter said, baby penguins are ‘terrible’ at swimming.<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
But suddenly the baby penguins became such strong swimmers that they could spend the whole winter alone.<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Peter was sad to leave his penguin friends when he left Port Lockroy, but happy to return to his companions \u2013 and a flushing toilet.<\/span>Credit: UKAHT\/Peter Watson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2013 9,000 miles from his home, partner and family in London. But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[19321,12746,777,858,2271,515,2102,8559,3056,20053,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-58961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bible-news","8":"tag-celsius","9":"tag-degrees","10":"tag-fight","11":"tag-job","12":"tag-miles","13":"tag-people","14":"tag-running","15":"tag-showers","16":"tag-thousands","17":"tag-toilets","18":"tag-water"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58964,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58961\/revisions\/58964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}