I distinctly remember the video my family shared from when they went to see a total solar eclipse in the US (Yellowstone I think it was). My brother Matt exclaiming something like “that’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen”. So, I was very motivated to get to the path of totality.
We went to the coast of Spain and we were rewarded with perfectly clear skies. There were a lot of people there. If you’ve wanted to eat at a restaurant you’d have had to book about 4 months in advance, but, it actually all went really well. We were able to get parking, there was plenty of space to see the eclipse.
It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I was expecting it to go completely dark (i.e. as dark as the middle of the night dark), but, it was more like a sunset all round. We had about 90 seconds of “totality” which is when you can look directly at the sun (no glasses required). During that time you can see the corona around the sun (the “crinkly bits”) and the photos just do not do it justice. It’s extremely beautiful and awesome (properly awesome). Here, watch this and you’ll get a sense of the real use of the word awesome.
There’s a total solar eclipse passing through NZ in 2028 and I’m extremely excited for that one (also going directly through Sydney which is crazy).
The photos simply do not do it justice.
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