Gazza
Giga Poster
So, Australia last had a total solar eclipse in 2002 in the South Australian outback town of Ceduna.
I was in year 8 at the time and thought it was pretty cool. At the time I googled that the next one in Australia would be in far north Queensland, and would probably be in my 2nd last or final year of uni (Yes, I was planning on doing Architecture back then even )
Far North Queensland, and specifically the city of Cairns is a nice spot, so I thought "hey, might do that".
Fast foward to this semester, and as luck would have it, my final hand for the research unit in was going to be on the day of the eclipse.....Not a worry, I could just get it in a day or two early, get a cheap flight to Cairns and go see it.
Didn't bother getting my arse into gear to book anything till about a month ago, which meant paying close to $400 for flights and struggling to find accomodation. Found a bed at a backpackers, and whilst I'm not opposed to staying in them, you kinda have to be in the mood for it. Regardless, I had no choice, and at least it was only $15 a night.
Figured it would be all worth it, I sort of see witnessing an eclipse as a life experience I should be ticking off.
DAY 1
So come last monday I was working feverishly to get my report done. In the end I got it in by 1am, ready to be up at 4:30am for my flight.
So after a couple of hours sleep mum dropped me at BNE. Annoying because I could only get the early flight, and the rail network doesn't start running till 5am so I couldn't just take the Airtrain.
On the plus side, the new airport link tunnel has opened which speeds up the trip to the airport a bit.
Beep...$4 in tolls later.
In the air by 6:30, had a nice sleep in the plane and I was on the ground in Cairns by 9ish.
Cairns is a bit of a tropical paradise....100,000 people and the northenmost city on the East coast...You can tell even from this google satelite shot what a nice place it is http://goo.gl/maps/0gnrs
Great barrier reef and the coral sea to the east, Daintree rainforest and mountains to the west, the city sort of in the middle, surrounded by sugar cane farms.
Dumped my bags at the place...Was pretty good actually, newish. I think it used to be a motor inn, but they took out the kitchenettes in each room and replaced them with bunks. Full of Brits, Germans, and Japanese backpackers (Well, the whole town is lol)
I didn't want to rent a car, so hired a bike for the time I was there, and set about exploring the CBD.
Very leafy and well kept.
Heading along more found the convention center, which looked pretty cool.
I ended up near the port, and they were redeveloping the waterfront there. It was all closed off (pic taken through the fence) but it looked nice,....maybe for next time. Loved how the playground was like the swiss family robinson treehouse.
I kept pressing along the foreshore:
I couldn't check in till 11am, really wanted to go have a sleep, but hey this is fun too.
There was also a free outdoor swimming pool with lifeguards on the waters edge, look to the edge of the womans head and you can see a number of metal tropical fish on poles (that were fountains) in the distance:
Lush.
Eventually I could check in, here is what it was like inside, basically a courtyard with a pool, and an elevated deck under a shade sail with a kitchen, a number of outdoor lounges and the like.
Had a bit of an afternoon sleep to catch up on what I missed out on the night before.
Later I emerged, For dinner I caught a bus north up to palm cove (15km away and CFB cycling that far) and had dinner up there.
Was a nice way to end the day.
I had a thing from the paper which had all the crucial times for tommorow morning, so set my alarm accordingly.
I was in year 8 at the time and thought it was pretty cool. At the time I googled that the next one in Australia would be in far north Queensland, and would probably be in my 2nd last or final year of uni (Yes, I was planning on doing Architecture back then even )
Far North Queensland, and specifically the city of Cairns is a nice spot, so I thought "hey, might do that".
Fast foward to this semester, and as luck would have it, my final hand for the research unit in was going to be on the day of the eclipse.....Not a worry, I could just get it in a day or two early, get a cheap flight to Cairns and go see it.
Didn't bother getting my arse into gear to book anything till about a month ago, which meant paying close to $400 for flights and struggling to find accomodation. Found a bed at a backpackers, and whilst I'm not opposed to staying in them, you kinda have to be in the mood for it. Regardless, I had no choice, and at least it was only $15 a night.
Figured it would be all worth it, I sort of see witnessing an eclipse as a life experience I should be ticking off.
DAY 1
So come last monday I was working feverishly to get my report done. In the end I got it in by 1am, ready to be up at 4:30am for my flight.
So after a couple of hours sleep mum dropped me at BNE. Annoying because I could only get the early flight, and the rail network doesn't start running till 5am so I couldn't just take the Airtrain.
On the plus side, the new airport link tunnel has opened which speeds up the trip to the airport a bit.
Beep...$4 in tolls later.
In the air by 6:30, had a nice sleep in the plane and I was on the ground in Cairns by 9ish.
Cairns is a bit of a tropical paradise....100,000 people and the northenmost city on the East coast...You can tell even from this google satelite shot what a nice place it is http://goo.gl/maps/0gnrs
Great barrier reef and the coral sea to the east, Daintree rainforest and mountains to the west, the city sort of in the middle, surrounded by sugar cane farms.
Dumped my bags at the place...Was pretty good actually, newish. I think it used to be a motor inn, but they took out the kitchenettes in each room and replaced them with bunks. Full of Brits, Germans, and Japanese backpackers (Well, the whole town is lol)
I didn't want to rent a car, so hired a bike for the time I was there, and set about exploring the CBD.
Very leafy and well kept.
Heading along more found the convention center, which looked pretty cool.
I ended up near the port, and they were redeveloping the waterfront there. It was all closed off (pic taken through the fence) but it looked nice,....maybe for next time. Loved how the playground was like the swiss family robinson treehouse.
I kept pressing along the foreshore:
I couldn't check in till 11am, really wanted to go have a sleep, but hey this is fun too.
There was also a free outdoor swimming pool with lifeguards on the waters edge, look to the edge of the womans head and you can see a number of metal tropical fish on poles (that were fountains) in the distance:
Lush.
Eventually I could check in, here is what it was like inside, basically a courtyard with a pool, and an elevated deck under a shade sail with a kitchen, a number of outdoor lounges and the like.
Had a bit of an afternoon sleep to catch up on what I missed out on the night before.
Later I emerged, For dinner I caught a bus north up to palm cove (15km away and CFB cycling that far) and had dinner up there.
Was a nice way to end the day.
I had a thing from the paper which had all the crucial times for tommorow morning, so set my alarm accordingly.