TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE 2012
IN FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND

-text by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
photos by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe and Felician Ursache
design by Florin Stancu-

First we understood even from the airport that
Cairns is a realm of the Sun.

Then we admired from the bus
the exotic road to the hotel.

We studied the promenade
at the shore of the Coral Sea
(part of the Pacific Ocean)
after the ebb
and remarked that the sunset would be blocked here
by mountains.

So we hired a car till the next morning
and started to the north
to find a better place for observing the total solar eclipse.

“What is this?”

At the edge of Cairns,
we stopped to see a superb sky show…

Then we continued the road
to Machan’s Beach…

Over here we caught the colours of the sunset
and all convinced us that
we were in a dreamland.

Yes, this is the best place for us,
we said
and returned to the capital of Far North Queensland,
where we finally saw Jupiter
in the same celestial area
where we hoped to see the eclipse
in the next morning.

After a short sleep,
in the next morning,
at Machan’s Beach again,
even Venus welcomed us…

And now, the eclipse,
for which we shared our duties.

Felician assumed
to photograph the large field
of the surrounding atmosphere:

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE 2012 ATMOSPHERE
-photographic poem by Felician Ursache-

Being older, I had the “right”
to photograph all I wanted:

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE 2012 AT THE CORAL SEA
-astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
(English and Romanian versions)-

To wake up in the night
somewhere at an edge of the world
with the Coral Sea
and the entire Pacific Ocean forward,
and with a vivid sky above,
perturbed by impertinent clouds…

(Sa te trezesti cu noaptea in cap
undeva la un capat al lumii,
cu Marea Coralilor
si tot Oceanul Pacific inainte,
si cu un cer viu deasupra,
tulburat de nori ca de niste angoase…)

To fussily wait for the Sun,
then to enjoy his ascension
(although eclipsed in part by the New Moon)…

(Sa astepti infrigurat Soarele,
apoi sa te bucuri de ascensiunea acestuia
-desi eclipsat in parte de Luna Noua)…

To admire the golden boulevard
made by the Sun on the sea
and maybe to believe in a generous impulse
from the Creator…

(Sa admiri bulevardul de aur
creat de Soare pe mare
si sa crezi poate intr-un impuls generos
din partea Creatorului…)

To hope in a happy denouement
following the evolution of the high battle
between heavenly bodies and clouds…

(Sa speri intr-un deznodamant fericit
urmarind evolutia bataliei inalte
dintre astre si nori…)

To believe till the last moment
that the monstrous cloud will be chased
by the eclipse’s totality…

(Sa crezi pana in ultima clipa
in alungarea norului monstruos
de catre totalitatea eclipsei…)

To see, overwhelmed, the final triumph
of the diamond ring…

(Sa asisti coplesit la gloriosul triumf final
al inelului cu diamant…)

Yes!

(Da!)

Yes!!!

(Da!!!)

Then, stunned, exhausted and terribly thrilled,
to abandon yourself to the decreasing partiality,
a mild return to normality…

(Apoi, naucit, epuizat si emotionat la culme,
sa te lasi in voia partialitatii scazatoare,
blanda revenire la normalitate…)

Do all these things matter?
We finally were winners:
people with their belief
in the beauty of the world,
and the Sun with the Moon,
the apogee tandem
of our celestial joy.

(Ce mai conteaza?
Am invins:
noi cu credinta noastra
in frumusetea lumii,
si Soarele cu Luna,
tandemul de apogeu
al bucuriei noastre ceresti.)