Capital woman stamps her authority on Antarctic post office

But Eleanor Land, from Morningside, travelled to the end of the earth to land her dream position – to man the most southerly post office in the world.

The 26-year-old has been at the helm of the attraction in Port Lockroy, Antarctica, for the past five months, sharing the island with just three colleagues and a colony of penguins.

Around 13,000 tourists flock there during Antarctica's summer just to get the unique stamp on an estimated 70,000 postcards.

Ms Land is set to return to the Capital in a few days' time after living, working and even sleeping in the historic base which houses the post office and souvenir shop.

She was working for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust as postmistress to help raise money from the tourist trade.

She said: "Everybody wants to come to Port Lockroy to send a postcard.

"I had no idea how busy it would be, I was shocked at the number of tourists coming through.

"It's the most southerly post office in the world so gets a lot of stamp enthusiasts very keen to get the post mark.

"We live in a society now that's so fast and this was a place where people would come in their thousands to post a letter that might not make it home for months."

The post office in Port Lockroy was originally opened in the 1940s as a way of claiming the territory as British.

The money raised goes towards the upkeep of the base, which was built as the headquarters of a top secret naval mission, as well as the renovation of other historic sites in Antarctica, including huts constructed in the early 20th century during the expeditions of explorers Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Carsten Borchgrevink.

One of Ms Land's other roles while in Port Lockroy was to monitor the colony of Gentoo penguins. The trust has carried out a 13-year-old study to assess whether visitor tourism has had any impact on their breeding.

Although Antarctica's summer season has only just come to an end, Ms Land is already thinking of going back in October.

The former pupil of St George's School for Girls said: "I'm quite an Antarctic addict now and would love to go back.

"When we first got there, temperatures were hovering around zero but we had some beautiful days when it got up to eight degrees and because the sun is so intense it reflects off the ice and feels even warmer.

"The scenery was out of this world, like a fairytale or a dream.

"Just as we were leaving it was starting to get very cold again.

"The sea was beginning to freeze so we got out just in time."

Her mother, Moira, added: "It was a great honour for her to be chosen because there were lots of people wanting to go.

"We were of course anxious that she would be away for six months but the only time I was really frightened was when the earthquake struck in Chile and threatened a tsunami throughout the whole of the Pacific, but luckily that didn't happen.

"We thought perhaps she might get a bit lonely but she seems to have had quite a sociable time."