Today we fly to McMurdo. We start early in Christchurch by dressing in our EXTREME COLD WEATHER (ECW) gear and hearing a brief introduction to the Antarctic climate, environment, and safety requirements. After the information we go aboard a C-17 jet. The flight takes 5 hours and if everything goes well you can visit the cockpit and chat with the pilots. 
The landing is on the Peagsus blue ice runway and there are "buses" waiting to pick us up and bring us to McMurdo station. There we are assigned rooms and are given linens to make our beds, no hotel service hear. We enjoy lunch in the free cafeteria that everyone in McMurdo uses.
Now we can start preparing for our field camp. David and Tom have to participate in snow school to learn how to set up tents, build snow caves, and basically everything you need to stay safely outdoors in Antarctica.
