McMurdo again!

We did make it out of the Pole, and are now safely at McMurdo.

It was an amazing flight. It was sunny most of the way and more importantly, while we were flying over the mountains. They had equipped the plane with doors for paratroopers which meant that the windows were huge! I saw huge mountains, some without snow cover on top, glaciers, snow fields, and crevasses. It was beautiful.

It's strange to be here: it seems like there are so many people, people I've never seen before. At the South Pole, you run into the same people over and over. And now we have to lock doors and carry keys around! And there are rocks and dirt. Air feels moist and there is so much oxygen! I didn't realize I was missing it.

Tomorrow, we fly back to Christchurch. We have "bag drag" at 8 PM tonight which means we have to show up, have our check-in luggages weighed, and then ourselves weighed with all our extreme cold weather gear and our carry-on baggage. It's strange to be wearing the red coat above freezing temperatures.