Friday, December 14, 2012

SOLAR ECLIPSE, NORTH QUEENSLAND - 2012: One Man’s View.

A guest post by F. John Alcock - My Dad

As you might imagine almost everyone was thrilled with the anticipation of an eclipse, although one young lad was quoted in the local paper as saying that he wouldn’t be getting out of bed for it.

Oh well, the last one here was in 710 AD, and there’s another in 2237 so, you know, they happen a lot in North Queensland, don’t they.

There was a sense of calm excitement along our beach, a friendly crowd of a few thousand waiting at dawn for something good to happen, and not a prince in sight.  It was a slow start, cloudy on the horizon. Nothing to see. An old bloke wandered by with a black cockatoo on his shoulder, a huge bird as long as a man’s arm and able to crack macadamias with its prodigious beak. They were as much photographed as was a very ordinary looking dog with an air of importance about him wearing sun glasses several sizes too big, out with his humans.

And then the sun broke through the clouds.




6.00am
There was cheering, clapping even. Cameras clicked, people whooped as if their team had scored, but it would be another forty minutes until totality.

6.38am
The odd thing was that in perhaps the last twenty seconds of sunlight the sky changed from being bright enough to read to completely black, stars shone, so did Venus.  There was a collective gasp on the beach.
 

There were tears from some, champagne corks popped, a confused reef egret flew ashore for an unscheduled evening in the melaleuca forest.

For two minutes the sun was completely obscured.  It was stared at, eyes unprotected.  It was all there, the corona, Bailey’s beads, the diamond ring, and surprisingly, without the sun, the air cooled. There are no words to describe what it was like. It was as unlikely as the resurrection, hard to believe if you weren’t there.

Two minutes is not a long time.  The moon sailed on, the sky lightened.

Pursued by a parent, a small child toddled towards the lagoon that backs onto the beach.  A towel draped over the crocodile warning sign obscured its message.  Toddlers can’t read.  Nor can crocs.

7.40am
Over.  High tide slid across the beach and into the lagoon.

And what of the kid who stayed in bed?

He probably won't grow up to be an astronaut.

9 comments:

  1. Wow! Remarkable shots of the eclipse. That is certainly something to get out of bed for!

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    1. Indeed, Suzy.

      What I can't believe is that I didn't fly to Mum & Dad's to view it.

      Oh well....will just have to wait for the next one.

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  2. This is a wonderful tale of a unique event. It always blows my mind to think of all these kinds of events that happen all over the world, and if you find yourself in the right place at the right time, you might just be lucky enough to witness it.

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  3. Thanks Colleen.

    Right place. Right time...indeed.

    Happy travels,

    Ben

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  4. Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Andi.

      (So sorry for the crazy slow reply...hard to believe you could slip through un-noticed like that)

      You've GOT to put a solar eclipse on your bucket-list.

      Oh, and keep an eye out for Comet ISON later this year!

      Happy travels,

      Ben

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  5. Thanks so much for dropping by and taking the time to leave a comment, Andi.

    They're amazing events, huh?

    Kepp an eye out for the next one...wherever it may be.

    Happy travels,

    Ben

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  6. This is a really awesome sight and thanks for sharing it!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for your kind comment.

      What an amazing event, right?

      Happy travels,

      Ben

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