Monday, November 12 - In search of an observing site

We woke up to pouring rain at 3 AM. At 5 it had lightened and Bob got up to explore the hotel grounds to see if he could find a place from which we could have a good chance to see the eclipse on Wednesday morning. The problem with this eclipse is that totality takes place at 6:38 AM, with the first contact (when the moon takes its first bite out of the sun) at 5:45 AM. Since sunrise is at 5:35 AM this means the sun will be quite low in the sky, so we have to have a good low horizon in order to see it well. Near the coast there might be low clouds, so we are exploring sites at higher elevation. The hotel is at 1400 feet, but still near enough the coast to get clouded out.

Figbird

I got up at six and wandered out, with my umbrella fortunately at it was intermittently sprinkling. I walked up hill past a lovely tiny fish pond with a pier extending half way across it, an outdoor bar with a metal roof over it on which a sodden peacock was strutting, and a large Jacuzzi! I spotted Bob uphill through a mango grove and joined him by the hotel’s entry sign which looks as if it will be an excellent place to watch the eclipse…if this rainy period ceases!





Hilary joined us and we saw quit a few really good birds such as the Bush Stone Curlew which stand 2’ tall and was busily guarding its chick which was almost as large as its parent. Large flocks of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos flew around screeching.

Frances joined us and we returned to the restaurant terrace for a buffet breakfast of cheeses, rolls, yogurt and six types of homemade jam!

We set off, driving onto the Atherton Tablelands, a large plateau at around 2000’ of elevation, filled mostly with agriculture: coffee plantations, sugar cane, potatoes, peanuts and mangos - mango wine seems to be a popular product!! We found an eucalyptus forest and birded and checked a couple of streams to see if we could find a platypus - one mammal that has so far eluded us. The forest is full of very large termite mounds - 3 - 4 feet high, We also found some locations overlooking a plowed field that might be a dryer spot to observe the eclipse if it’s cloudy below at our resort.


Australian Bustard - ~3.5' tall

 

Aussie humor- decorated termite mounds


 

We drove through several small towns, each with its typical large hotel/pub advertising “pokies”, the very popular slot machines. We stopped at the Slotted Spoon Café in Atherton at 2 since we were getting famished and Bob and I split a hamburger with spicy peanut sauce, and , of course, the obligatory beet slice (actually shredded this time) the Aussies seem to love. Hilary drove us to Hasties Swamp National Park which consists of a large lagoon with a two story bird hide and saw some great water birds.

Plumed Whistling-Duck

 We also checked out a “Family Platypus Park” complete with picnic tables with gas “barbies” overlooking a small pond that looked unlikely to have those rare animals and we didn’t’ see any.

We got back to the Resort at 5 and went in for drinks and another delicious dinner of cannelloni, lamb shanks and macadamia-crusted Barramundi. Still getting rain showers at 9 PM!