(L to R) Ioannis, John, Scott, and James in front of the DC-3 aircraft upon arriving in McMurdo.

Team B is back in McMurdo after a 400 mile journey on a 70+ year old aircraft. A 1944 (modernized) DC-3 (Basler) was our ride today, getting us back to McMurdo just in time for dinner. Its sister aircraft built in 1942 (and owned by the same company) carried paratroopers into Normandy on D-Day. It is still an impressive aircraft even by today’s standards.

We were able to catch all of Team A before we left, with Jim and Brian landing a few minutes before we hopped on the DC-3. It was great to see all four of them back in Shackleton, albeit briefly, and look forward to their safe arrival and a thorough catch-up in McMurdo soon (scheduled for tomorrow).
Upon arriving in “Mac Town”, we made our way to our respective rooms. We have two rooms with two beds each; John drew the short straw (alphabetical by surname I suspect) and is bunking with yours truly. We’ve all had our first shower in over a month and are relaxing in our fluffy white thing with a frame – I believe society refers to them as a bed? We even got a little laundry done. So, it is safe to say, the reek has officially been removed from this years recon team.
Our gear should arrive on the next “Herc” (LC-130) flight from Shackleton at which point we’ll have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do. Until then, we mostly have a blank canvas as to how we choose to fill our day (see McMurdo recreation post by James earlier in the season).
Posted by a freshly showered Scott in McMurdo on 2018-01-16 at 22:00 local.