Dateline: noon Wednesday, 28 November 2001
Christchurch, New Zealand

Randy writes:

Greetings from New Zealand!

Well, after a full 24 hours of travel we are now in Christchurch and were even able to get our extreme cold weather (ECW) gear issued today. We did this so that Jason and Vivian can film other people getting their clothing tomorrow for the museum exhibit we are working on.

They give you plenty of warm clothing:

• 2 pairs of long johns
• 6 pairs of wool socks
• 4 hats
• 7 or 8 pairs of gloves and mittens
• polar fleece pants and top
• wind pants or Carharts
• a wind jacket
• a big down parka
• huge boots

Our travelers faired well. CARA bear and the yet to be named penguin seem happy.

It is about 60 degrees F here today but cloudy and rainy. They say it was really hot yesterday which is a little surprising as it is early summer here.

We are all tired so we will go check in to our hotel, clean up, eat and go to bed. More tales tomorrow. We are scheduled to fly to McMurdo on Friday (Thursday in the States).

To introduce our other travelers:

Jason Lelchuk is a cinematographer who operates a very special high definition television camera. He has filmed science experiments all over the world including Mongolia, Vietnam, and Thailand. He is shown here in the Los Angeles Airport with the CARA bear and the nameless penguin.

Vivian Trakinski is the producer of Science Bulletins at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). She is the person who is figuring out how to tell people about the exciting research that CARA does. The exhibit will include a high definition video documentary, an interactive kiosk, and a web site. She is pictured with Randy and the stuffed animals, outside the Auckland Airport.

Other photos: flying into Christchurch, the Clothing Distribution Center, the Antarctica jacket patch. Click on any photo for a larger version.

Go on to the next day...

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