Journal Entry

See ya' later United States! After what feels like months onboard planes and sitting in stuffy airports I have made it to Christchurch, New Zealand! Along the way, I met up with a few more members of the DOM team. Even though they all felt quite grimy after hours of the "canned" air on the flights, Heidi, Collin, Mike and Christine were great sports in letting me take photos of them to use in this little movie. I was hoping to get some awesome images of koalas and kangaroos from Australia, but flight delays had the DOM team running from one plane to another so we could get to Christchurch on time. Maybe on my way home in January I will not only get a photo of a koala, but hold one too! (I have heard they have very sharp nails- sharper than most cats. Ouch!)

Barely made it to the New Zealand flight!Heidi and Mike preparing to show travel docs before boarding.

As is rather expected with any trip where you hop on and off a whole bunch of planes, a couple people did not have their luggage waiting for them when we got to New Zealand. Christine and Collin are crossing their fingers and hoping that their luggage will make it to them before we leave for Antarctica. In the meantime, the airline that misplaced their bags gave them a little consolation give of a t-shirt, gym shorts, and some travel size toiletries. Are they not so lucky!?!

The lot of Collin's gear in New Zealand (not for long, hopefully...)

Tomorrow I am heading to the Clothing Distribution Center to try on and pack up all my Extreme Cold Weather gear. Luckily the weather in Christchurch is only around 65F right now, so I won't get too hot while checking the fit of jackets, boots, and gloves that are designed to keep me safe and warm at temperatures below -40F.

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