Wow wow wow!! One of the highlights of our trip so far has to have been this last week! Samba arrived on.....oh, now you're asking; I've lost track of the days this week! Mega arrived back on the same day and the next day we were out on Pegasus and off to Fitzroy Island, a little island just 3 hours off the coast of Cairns. It wasn't much fun sailing into 25 knots of wind, but the anchorage was sheltered enough. Pegasus aren't a particularly energetic bunch and so when Samba suggested an island walk I was definitely erring on the side of "let's do the 45 minute one!" However, Mel suggested that maybe our kids wouldn't moan so much (my worry!) if there was a bit of peer pressure. And she was right! We enjoyed a 2 hour walk which took in the lighthouse and the summit of the island. The wind definitely blew the cobwebs away and we found what we had thought was the perfect viewing point for the eclipse. That was until we found out that about 300 other people were planning to go to the same small spot. Hmm.
So off we headed back to Vlasoff reef. We knew it wouldn't be very sheltered, but actually, we found a great sandy spot with excellent hold the day before the eclipse.
Waking Mia up for the sunrise was no mean feat. Lochy of course was not an issue given that he is up daily at 5.45am. Samba, Mega and Pegasus all sat on the trampo awaiting the sunrise and shortly after we noted a nibble in the 11 oclock position on the sun through our safety glasses. A big fat cloud sat above the sun until the kids blew it away and from there on we had a perfect clear view of the eclipse, unlike the vast majority of Cairns.
When the eclipse reached totality, it was just phenominal. The kids went mad (as did I....I was very excited!!) We didn't see the reaction of the wildlife, there not being any around but when everything went dark and the stars came out, it was just really really amazing! Lochy celebrated by making chocolate cakes icing them with all the various stages of the eclipse and all in all we had a great day.
Back to Cairns to drop off Mega for her flight to Darwin (very sad goodbye!!) and Samba have just left today. Luckily we think it's an a bientot and not a goodbye as they have similar plans to us with regards to where they want to go in Oz. And us? Well, we didn't have any plans beyond the eclipse, so watch this space..........