Here’s something I’ve been trying to figure out ever since I visited Australia/New Zealand and crossed the International Date line getting there. I was always under the impression that as long as you travelled westward you gained time. I know this from daughter Ryan being in Hawaii and always deducting 6 hours from our time before I try and call her.
So when Pam and I flew to Tahiti, where they are only 5 hours behind us, I was where I needed to be time-wise in my mind. However, when we made the next leg of our trip flying into Auckland and crossed the International Date line, suddenly it was tomorrow! Once in New Zealand we were now 16 some hours ahead of EST. That’s where I began having problems figuring out what had happened.
Crossing that International Date Line means that New Zealand’s main city Auckland is the first major city to greet each new day. One of our tour guides in Auckland pointed this out by noting that “The United States is the greatest country in the world, but Santa visits us first.”
I thought of all this yesterday as I prepped for Buzzy’s Midnight Somewhere Party and saw where Sydney was celebrating the New Year mid-morning yesterday our time.
