I travelled up to the Mooloolaba Point Cartwright Lighthouse. I was hoping to have a chance to see the Lunar eclipse but didn't hold my breath as I drove through rain and sun to get there. I saw periods of blue sky and then seemingly seconds later full cloud cover.
I met up with friends and we walked along the path for the 20 min and scoped out a spot most likely to get the best shot. We did this with all the kids in tow, my three boys and her three girls. The kids longed to get wet but, as the rock pools were ankle breakingly pot-holed and the surf side was literally being pounded, we settled on a half hour play in the canal. As we were going to be out after dark I had planned not to let them get wet later. I drove off to forage for food with my friend Wendy's car blocking my park. Thankfully it was as when I returned it was completely packed and the last spot was taken by our second companion (no kids, but we still were out numbered 2:1)
We rushed to our spot, settled the kids on a tarp with the food and went out to the rocks. Unfortunately the tide was coming in FAST. One second the wave just came near, the next was over my ankle. We bailed and packed up the kids and headed further down the beach towards the canal. There was one guy who went out much further than we were game and I'm sure he would have ended up waist deep by the time the moon was visible. I forgot to look for him by then.
It was pretty hairy with the tide was coming in so fast and making the tripod sink! I wanted to be as far out as I could to get the moon as low as possible. But I realised I forgot to bring the compass! I was convinced that where I was, lined the moon with the lighthouse, thus blocking my view. Going through my initial photos at home, I found I was right! I found half moons along the edge of the lighthouse just visible on the computer screen.
Once the moon was high enough for us to notice, we got to work. This was when we stopped watching the kids! They got wet! So so wet. All three of us were clicking away, comparing settings, using our lenses to the maximum! The children, hmmm, digging holes, burrowing into the sand, running around. I did take some with them in it. I tried to get Hadar to use his camera but he just wanted to be in the water!
Once the shadow was about half off they started to complain about the cold. I covered them all in the tarp they had sat on for dinner and then took some wide fields. After then we decided to pack up. The kids shivered and complained the whole slow 20min walk back to the cars. We just reminded them that we had said it wasn't a good idea to get wet at night and pointed out that there are no warm showers until we get home and that NO ONE was getting in the car sandy! So after washing in the cold water, dressing in dry clothes where possible (the girls had swum in their last spares) we settled in to go home. And after 7 stops for roadworks we were home! Then the downloading and processing for at least one shot!
I'm so glad we went for the drive.
I've attached two shots and one map to see where we ended up. The lightest one I took with my phone but I can just make out the moon at home on the screen. I thought it was low cloud at the time. The other I used my 50D on a tripod with my old 75-300mm lens.
An enjoyable evening had by all, sure it be talked about for a while and have some grouse foto's there to prove it, Nice read and captures Anne, well done
Thanks for all the great comments. It was worth the venture.
We are all set to do it all again for the partial eclipse next week. This time we are looking at an adult to child ratio of 5:12 or 9:16. As quite a few friends are looking to head to where Tony and I are going. Should be exciting just to get parking spots!
