This morning, around 4:30 a.m., we crossed the international date line. That
means that we gained a day. So while I am writing this e-mail at 5:30 p.m.
on the 20th in Christchurch, it is 10:30 p.m. on the 19th back home in
Kansas.

We had some free time today, so several of the team members took a little
trip from our hotel near the airport into the heart of Christchurch. We had
lunch at a tearoom where we had toasties (a slice of bread and a slice of
cheese rolled up into a tube, then grilled) and pasties (little meat pies).
These were quite tasty and gave us energy for a little shopping and further
touring. After looking through several shops, we discovered that "possum"
fur is quite popular in New Zealand. It is not the opossum that we are
familiar with, but is a cat-sized creature with very dense and soft fur.
Many items in the shops include possum fur. Then we headed out, via the city
bus system, to take a gondola ride to the top of an extinct volcano. This
was really worth the effort and money as we had a spectacular view of
Christchurch. In fact, the island of New Zealand is small enough at this
point that from our vantage point we could see the ocean on both sides of
it. Did I mention that we were really HIGH up! It was gorgeous and the
weather was cooperating beautifully. New Zealand is really a pretty and
friendly place.

Tomorrow we check in at the Antarctic Center and get the clothing, sleeping
bags and other gear that will help us survive safely in Antarctica. We are
looking forward to getting on our way, but we really enjoyed our day looking
around the beautiful city of Christchurch.

NOTE: This was the entire journal entry, not just page 1.