Because of the International Date Line, Christchurch is 21 hours ahead of San Francisco.
Arrived this morning in Christchurch, on the southern island of New Zealand. The airport customs officer inspected the bottom of my hiking boots - to minimize the import of non-native plant species to NZ. I was forewarned, and cleaned my boots before I packed them.
Had a brief visit downtown, still very devastated from the Feb 2011 earthquake.
Tomorrow, we'll go to pick up our Extreme Weather Clothing. The temperature at the South Pole is -40 degrees. That's a special temperature: -40 Celsius = -40 Fahrenheit. Wind chill will make it -50 C.
Will be heading to the American research station McMurdo Station Monday morning.
Ozone hole
The Antarctic Ozone hole reached its max area around 16 Sept, and its min ozone concentration around 29 Sept. So now the sun is out (24 hour sunshine), the polar stratospheric clouds are dissipating, and the ozone is recovering. Note the blue patch (low ozone) - I don't think we'll going there.
Before I get too complacent, there is near-total ozone depletion at 15km at the South Pole. I brought SPF-100 sunscreen.
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