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Terry,
The weather reports were sketchy and not what an eclipse chaser would be looking for. I relied on actual visible cloud satellite data not supplied by the bureau to make my final decision. We went inland to 12km west of Mareeba on a property. The totality reduced from 2m2sec I had planned for at Glengarry caravan park at Port Douglas to 1min31.7 seconds at my new location.
Night driving highlighted the lack of reflective delineation on the inland roads but over all their condition was pretty good. As for the locals being helpful – generally yes they were.
It was the first eclipse for me and I was with a group of people 10-15 at the viewing location. Age was from 7 – 80plus. Skies cleared with about 1/8 cloud blocking the horizons north and east and the presence of high level cloud.
Biggest gripe was the price gouging for food everywhere. Fuel was to be expected and considering it was the shoulder of the off season they charged like wounded buffalo for accommodation. And this was booked over 2.5 years ago!!
Next gripe was the mobile coverage up there – extremely limited after you move away from the coast, at least we were fully covered at Mareeba.
The proposed road blockages were a complete turnoff for staying at some of the proposed vantage points on the coast.
Travelled from Newcastle NSW by air then hire car from cairns airport.
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