McCleod has organized a skydive along the international dateline, east of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands.

His calculations show that he and his crew, jumping from 12,000 feet, will see the 2000 dawn about 25 minutes ahead of the Chathams. The group will wait until they see the first hint of sun, then jump. "We wouldn_t want to be taking off again," McCleod said. Four of the seven divers are from New Zealand, but Don and Mary Deans have traveled from Glasgow, Scotland for the occasion. The team had offered a tandem jump to the highest bidder, to raise funds for New Zealand_s Child Cancer Foundation. But McCleod said the costs -- US$12,000 for the parachute alone -- were too high. The bids "didn_t come to quite enough to make it worthwhile." A camera operator will join the others, filming the jump of a lifetime for international broadcast, and each of the divers will be snapping like crazy. "We_ve got cameras everywhere," McCleod said A boat will wait to pick up the crew and bring them back to the Chatham Islands.