New Zealand's highest new year celebrations tonight were those of the Russian-US crew of the International Space Station (ISS).
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani were seeing in their first New Year as the ISS flew southwest of New Zealand.
They were expecting to see in a few more new years as they crossed another 15 time zones over the next 24 hours.
The ISS crew were due to officially see in the New Year at lunchtime in NZ, as the ISS crew members live on Greenwich Mean Time in orbit.
"If we see in New Year 16 times, we will not have time to work," said Mr Malenchenko. The space station had kept fizzy water for the celebration - no alcohol is allowed on the station.
The ISS crew members will be back at work again on January 2. "A US shuttle will arrive soon, we should prepare to receive it," Mr Malenchenko said.
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