WA tradie Angus Cameron leaves sweltering Pilbara heat behind for freezing Antarctic cold

A WA tradie has traded red dirt for snow and blistering 40C heat of the Pilbara for the freezing -40C cold of Antarctica.

Angus Cameron, a mechanic from WA’s north, has been calling the Casey station his home for more than a year now.

The 26-year-old said the opportunity to work in a rarely explored part of the world seemed too good to pass up.

“I thought it sounded like a pretty cool experience... probably about two years ago now I applied to come down, and about 12-months-ago ended up coming down,” he told PerthNow.

“The work itself is much the same, I’m a mechanic by trade, so fixing machines is the same everywhere you go it’s just the environment that we do it in.”

The living environment of going from a mining region to the winterland couldn’t be more polar opposite in both a literal and figurative sense.

Despite the differences, Cameron said that the working conditions are pretty similar.

“I traded red dirt and heat from the Pilbara to freezing cold and snow as down here,” he said.

“You go from the heat, you’re sweating and constantly swatting away flies, and you can’t take enough clothes off to try and cool down.

“Here it’s almost the opposite, but the same frustrations sort of, you’re just cold, you’re putting more layers on and wearing three pairs of gloves... you’re fighting nature but that’s all part of the fun.

“If you can deal with the heat, you can deal with the cold.”

Used to the 40Cs sweltering heat of working up north, summer in Cameron’s new home sees temperatures sit around 0C, while winter is in complete darkness and can get down to an absurd -40C.

For anyone considering a stint in the South Pole, the environment and surreal nature is a clear draw card.

“Everything’s walking distance, you leave our main accommodation building, as soon as you walk out the front door it’s all ice, but in summer its blue water and then just icebergs — it’s insane,” Cameron said.

“You can’t put it into words... on the 400 meter walk from accommodation down to the workshop you will see a group of penguins walking through the station.

“Birds flying around, if you look hard enough towards the ice, you can see a couple of seals. It’s nature at its rawest, but you just get that every day to and from work.”

Despite the money being similar, if not slightly less than a typical FIFO role — there is no expenses for the workers over their tenure with food and shelter provided.

Cameron said: “Everything you earn you’re just going to save”

Gina Woodward, Australian Antarctic Division recruiter, said there is a wide range of job opportunities for Aussies.

“We’ve got more than 35 different job types, so everything from mechanics and plant operators to carpenters, sparkies, plumbers, chefs, doctors, information technology... there’s a whole host of jobs,” she said.

The recruitment process can take up to a year, with candidates needing to be able to handle the terrain’s harsh and isolating conditions.

“The roles can be quite demanding and we have to test people’s suitability to live and work in a small, remote community,” Woodward said.

“We look at the personal qualities... are you good at teamwork? Are you empathetic? Do you have emotional intelligence?”

The application process is now open, people who are keen for a new experience can apply here.