Total Eclipse

13th - 14th November 2012

I managed to get a day and a half off work to go down and see the total eclipse but it was far from simple. I had booked a bus to take me down to Cape Tribulation but when the driver arrived at the Lions Den he told me that due to the extra high tide he wouldn't be able to drive down the coastal road meaning that I wouldn't be able to go to Cape Trib. He was going to take the inland road and would take me to Port Douglas instead. This was a bit of a dilemma as i had nowhere to stay in Port Doug and I thought everywhere would be full with it being the busiest far north Queensland had been in decades. The driver said he might be able to find a way to get me to Cape Trib so I got on the bus.

We got to Port Doug and it quickly became apparent that I would be stuck there and what was worse it was raining and it looked very unlikely it would clear up by the next day. I managed to find some accomadation though with the help of a woman at the infomation centre. I couldn't check in till later so I went for a walk to explore Port Douglas. I wanted to come to Port Douglas at some point anyway so it was nice to explore it and the driver said it was unlikely to any clearer up at Cape Trib so I just crossed my fingers that we would have clear skies.

The beach at Port Douglas

Its a really nice place with some expensive looking houses. Especially up on the hill looking out to sea. I saw a man tight rope walking which was random and some old looking trees.

Just a normal afternoon for this guy

Big Tree

I went back to check into my tent that I had now booked at Dougies Backpackers. The place where they recently filmed a bunch of episodes of neighbours! I asked and apparently they used room 12. I vaguely recognized it but not enough for me to take many pictures of it. They have rooms but also a load of tents out the back that you can hire. They are just small 2 man tents but they have small camp bed type things so it was still comfortable but I was just glad to have somewhere to stay. Plus the sky was slowly clearing so i was getting hopeful.

Dougies

I went for another walk in the evening and i came accross a small town festival going on by the marina. They and loads of market stalls, a bar and live bands playing so i stayed and watched. They were quite good actually and it only rained for 5 minuites! They had little side shows going on aswell. There was a clown who would have been quite good if it wasnt for the kids trying to wreck his show constantly and a couple of guys playing with fire who where impressive but had no showmanship.

Live Band

The church next door

Dude juggling fire

Cyberman dude

A guy dressed up as the eclipse. The moon rotated around his head!

When I got back to the backpackers I bumped into Chelsea from the Orignial Oak in Leeds! The smallest world ever moment. And she was in the tent right next to mine! She'd been there for a few months working so knew loads of people and they were getting up early for a breakfast before the eclipse and invited me.

Look who i found!

Pet bandicoot

I got up at 3.30am! and I barely slept coz everytime i woke up i looked outside to see it there were clear skies or not. We went for a bacon butty at a place where one of chelsea's friends work and then we head to the beach to watch the sunrise.

About 10 minutes after sunrise the moon started to move across. It kept going behind the clouds so it was gonna be hit or miss to weather we were actually going to see it. Then it started getting dark. It was so surreal.

Just as it went total there was a small cloud over it. It was so dark. You could see stars and the lights of a cruise ship near by. Then in the second minute the cloud moved and you could see the whole thing. It was absolutely amazing. The most spectacular thing I think I've ever seen.

You could see the corona around this white ring. Then the ring suddenly turned pink and a second later the sun peaked out from a corner and we all put our glasses back on. There was a massive cheer and applause. It was weird to be applauding objects but I joined in coz it was so god dam amazing! It was over so quickly though. Only 2 minutes and 3 seconds and there was too much to take it in such a small amount of time. I need to see another one!

We were a little bit unsure of what to do after. We just sort of hung around for a bit then went back to the hostel. I think the others drank the rest of the day but I needed to catch the bus back to Cooktown as I had work later. But before I went I saw my first huge Australian spider. It was about the size of my hand but it was supposedly friendly. I certainly wouldn't be touching it though!

Golden Orb Spider!

The bus was another farce. First he was an hour late and then as the river was still impassible he drove all the way up to Cape Trib and then drove all the way around. So what should have been a 4 hour journey took over 7 and i was 2 hours late for work! Faith was alright about it though and didn't dock me any wages.