I thought this needed it's own thread....
There is going to be a total solar eclipse on November 13th 2012. The best spot on land to view it from is
Cairns Australia.
There is not much like a total solar eclipse, the sky goes dark, the stars come out, the sun's corona. The thing I remember most from the one I saw was that you could see the shadow of the moon coming at you as a wall of darkness moving at something like 600mph. Fracking amazing.
Anyone want to come along?
Doing some preliminary budgeting, airfare looks to be about $2,200 (less if you start in LA)
Rooms can be had for $100/night'ish
I'm planning a suicide run (to minimize cost and time off from work) leaving Friday Nov 9th from DC arrive in Cairns on Sunday, see the eclipse on Tuesday, hop a flight later that day and be home in DC in time to return to work on Wednesday (that time/date change stuff is freaky). You might have more sense than me and want to stay longer....