Lunar eclipse April 15, 2014 from Melbourne, Australia

Yesterday was our last day in Melbourne and while having dinner at a Thai restaurant we heard on the news a total lunar eclipse in progress. After dinner we went back to our hotel to fetch my camera and caught this image of the full moon rising above city buildings, just as it was emerging from totality. It still had the reddish color illuminated by light grazing the earth’s atmosphere. The left side was still darkened by the earth’s shadow. Then within thirty minutes, the moon looked full again.

We completed the first leg of our return trip, having arriving in Sydney this morning. We had reservations for a 9:00 am flight and our airport shuttle wanted to pick us up at 6:00 am. That seemed a bit early to be heading to the airport, but it’s a good thing we did. Checking in, we discovered that our original flight had been canceled and we were booked on another flight already boarding for a 7:30 departure. We hustled through security and boarded with perhaps ten minutes to spare. After staying the night in Sydney we catch an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland tomorrow, then head on to Los Angeles and Seattle.

It’s been 14 weeks since we left home and we are looking forward to being back. This has been a fabulous trip full of adventure, but now we’re ready to return to our lives on Whidbey Island. When we left in January, our only itinerary was to join the expedition to the subantarctic islands and the Ross Sea aboard the Akademik Shokalskyi. We had no specific plans in either new Zealand or Australia—we just followed our noses and took our directions from the locals. Other than a few domestic flights in Australia, we rarely planned more that a couple of days in advance where we would go and what we would see. It worked out well, enabling us to do things we never imagined when we left.

Meeting Julian midway and traveling with him for nearly four weeks in Australia was a delight. Always upbeat, always adventuresome, always patient with his aging parents, he was an ideal traveling companion—especially as gourmet cook and driver.

We look forward to seeing our friends back home and sharing our stories (including a few photos).

David