DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Buildings at the UK base at Port Lockroy. PICTURE: Vipersniper/iStockphoto.
• Looking to get away from it all? The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust is seeking people to staff the world’s most remote operational post office at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island in the Palmer Archipelago, west of the Antarctic Peninsula. The trust is seeking people to fill the roles of base leader, shop manager and general assistant to work on site for five months over the Antarctic summer from November to March, 2023. A former postmaster, Lauren Elliott, told the BBC that it is “the most magical place in the world”. “It was really exciting, we got to count all the penguins when they hatched. You have to do a lot of cleaning and there’s lots of penguin poo, which we call guano, but there’s never time to be bored – it’s a really interesting place.”
• Cowboy David Bosselait and his horse Jackson have become something of a tourist attraction in town of LaBelle, Florida, after they started making weekly trips to the drive-through of the local Dunkin’ Donuts. Bosselait, a retired bull rider, and his mount make the about 20 kilometre round trip from their home to the donut store where Bosselait has a coffee and Jackson a donut. “It’s a good experience for Jackson to be around the vehicles and whatnot,” Bosselait told WBBH-TV when asked why they make the trip. “Really shows him patience and, you know, to stay focused.”
• Mystery surrounds the return of two of naturalist Charles Darwin’s notebooks to Cambridge University’s library, 20 years after they disappeared. The university said last week that the notebooks had been returned to the library in early March inside a bright pink gift bag accompanied by a note wishing the librarian a ‘Happy Easter’. The notebooks, which feature Darwin’s famous 1837 “Tree of Life” sketch, went missing in 2001 after they had been removed for photographing. While staff initially believed they had been misplaced, police were contacted after a search failed to find them. Cambridgeshire Police are investigating. The notebooks are set to be part of a free exhibition, Darwin in Conversation, opening at the library in July.
