MATAGRO, 04JAN13: Início da campanha

Hi guys

I'm Daniele Bortoli, an Italian researcher working at the geophysics Centre of the University of Evora. I speak Portuguese, but regarding the writing...I'm more comfortable with the English language!!!. English is a quite simple and global language and for the ones who want to read the following few lines in Portuguese, the Google translator can make a great job!!!

I would like to invite you to follow me in my 4th experience in Antarctica from 01/01/2013 to 05/02/2013. The first contact with Antarctica was in '98-'99 during the XIV Italian Antarctic Expedition at the "Mario Zucchelli" Station (MZS - formerly TNB - Terra Nova Bay) located at 74°41'42"S, 164°07'23"E in the New Zealand sector of the Antarctic continent (you can use Google earth to see where the station exactly is). I came back there in 2000-'01 expedition (the XVI) and then I was more than 10 years without going there. Finally, I took part to the XXVII campaign in 2011-'12 and to this 2013 expedition. From Portugal, to arrive at MZS it takes more or less 38 hour of fly. The first 3 hours were on a TAP fly to reach Bologna (Italy) on 28 of December, then the first of January from the Bologna airport towards Frankfurt (Germany - only 2 hours!!!) Then the big fly from Frankfurt to Sidney (Australia - almost 20 hours on the same  irplane) with a technical stop of 1 hour in Singapore. From Sidney to Christchurch (south New Zealand) there are 'only' 4 hours ('only' because after the leg Frankfurt-Sidney everything is shorter!!!). At this point the normal fly's are finished and following some hours of relax at the Sudima Hotel near the Christchurch airport and a visit to the Antarctic Centre,(http://www.iceberg.co.nz/) the researchers have to be ready to start a new leg, with the Antarctic clothes already dressed, on a military airplane (Hercules C130 or Galaxy) or with a lot of luck it should be possible also to fly on a normal airbus operated by Australian specialized airline. The destination is the McMurdo US station (77°50'39"S 166°40'22"E). still almost 400 km from MZS. After 6/8 hour of fly and a very pleasant landing (finally) on the ice at the McMurdo airport, we wait for the last fly from McMurdo to MZS with a very small airplane called Twin-Otter and/or with an helicopter.

More info's regarding the Italian Project for Antarctic Researches and the activities during this and the past expeditions can be found at http://www.pnra.it/.

Actually (04/01/2013) we are in Christchurch waiting for the fly scheduled for tomorrow to reach the Antarctic Continent.

I'll keep you informed about mine activities, in the frame of the MATAGRO (PT) and SAMOA (IT) projects once I have reached MZS.