Total Solar Eclipse WA

Two ‘happy hours’ in one day!

Today we witnessed a rare total solar eclipse. We were front and centre as Exmouth was plunged into darkness as the sun, moon and earth perfectly aligned. We experienced first hand the brilliant moment of ‘totality’ when the moon completely eclipsed the sun.

The spectacle commenced just after 10 am. We set up beside the caravan watching and waiting in anticipation, raising our eclipse goggles every few minutes to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon.

At around 11:37 am a collective cheer was heard across town for the moment of totality. An eerie ‘darkness’ followed and the birds all took to the sky flying in confused circles. It was noticeably cooler and the preceding wind dropped and changed direction. Then just as quickly as it went dark, it grew light and we watched on as the moon continued its path across the sky until once again the sun was shining brightly upon us.

The whole town was buzzing with excitement and people from all over the globe, many with some very fancy telescopes and camera equipment. One guy we spoke to was chasing his 15th eclipse! It was certainly an experience we’ll remember. Not sure we’d travel around the world for it but can understand why people do.

We celebrated our unique experience with a delicious tapas dinner at Exhale Blue Lips restaurant before dancing our way through the decades to Hot Dub Time Machine at SolFest.

Eclipse reflection: We all agreed we thought the total eclipse would be darker (like midnight) whereas it was more like late twilight or just before nightfall. Still it was a weird and intriguing experience (all 58 seconds of it) that we’ll remember for a long time.Read more