Australia – November 24 to December 7, 2002

I started thinking about going to see the total solar eclipse in Australia two years ahead of time. I saw presentations from people who had gone to see the total eclipse in Turkey in 1999, and I knew that people were getting ready to go to Africa for the June 21, 2001 eclipse. Also, my old and dear friends Chuck and Elouise Mattox, who had gone to see the 1999 eclipse in Europe, had told me about their adventures in viewing that eclipse. I had signed up to go on an eclipse trip with them in 1991, which went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but I had to cancel my reservation because I lost my job in March 1991 and didn’t think I’d be able to afford the trip. My employment situation also precluded going on an eclipse trip in 1999. By 2000, I was pretty frustrated about never having seen a total solar eclipse. But by then, things were looking up. I went to work for the County of Los Angeles, an employer who actually afforded some job security, provided vacation time, and didn’t object to employees having a life outside work.

I had wanted to go to Australia for a long time. When I heard about the December 2002 eclipse in south Australia, I contacted the South Australia Astronomical Society – there was a link to it on the OCA website – and asked if they were planning to organize any kind of outing to view the eclipse. I received an answer from their then President, Paul Rogers, who said that they were not planning anything as a group, but they had a member, Rob Hill, who was organizing an expedition to a place called Arkaroola, in the south Australia Outback, for the purpose of viewing the eclipse, and he gave me Rob’s contact information as well as some details about the trip.

I immediately contacted Rob Hill and signed up for the trip, because it looked like a good deal. Moreover, it sounded like a good deal to Chuck and Elouise Mattox, who also signed up for Rob’s trip.

The eclipse excursion was scheduled for December 1 to December 5. It would leave from Adelaide, in South Australia, and return there on Dec. 5. Of course we wanted to see more of Australia, so we made additional arrangements. These involved flying to Sydney on November 22, arriving November 24 (you cross the international date line and lose a day), and touring Sydney for three days, then hopping a plane to Cairns in Queensland. We would stay in Port Douglas, north of Cairns, see the sights in that area, and go on an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. From Queensland we would then hop on down (this is Australia, so one emulates the kangaroos) to Adelaide to catch the eclipse tour. Chuck and Elouise followed a different itinerary, first flying into Melbourne, renting a car to drive to Adelaide, and seeing Sydney after the eclipse trip.