[Captain Charlie (Gareth)]

I'm now retired and living on Cairns northern beaches, so bring it on 2012!

But I vividly recall the TSE on 23 October 1976 when a group of fellow amateur (ham) radio enthusiasts drove down from Sydney to Bombala, only to find thousands of people and total cloud cover. We made a hasty decision to drive to the coast (a long windy dirt road) and, with minutes to spare, set up observations on a high point near Pambula overlooking the sea. We had a portable television which picked up a Victorian channel and we could see the eclipse on TV just before it happened at Pambula. Then actually seeing the shadow move quickly out across the ocean was fantastic ...

For 2012, my advice would be to get yourself up high where you can see the sea and the shadow, e.g. the roadside lookout about halfway up the highway to Kuranda. There are plenty of other high places with a view to the east.

I'm concerned about cloud cover though - after all, this is the tropics and it will be November. I plan to be in a light plane up around 9,500 feet, so even if there is lower level cloud, the shadow will be visible on the cloud. And it'll probably have to be planned as a night flight!