Total Eclipse 2012 – North Queensland, Australia
My Eclipse Planning Origin Story
The year 2012 was incredibly significant for me. Not only did I publish my first book, Total Addiction, but I also experienced an unbelievably rare coincidence for an eclipse chaser: the path of totality crossed my home region of Far North Queensland, Australia. Very few chasers ever get to witness such an event in their own backyard! I lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the time, and instead of traveling to a remote destination, all I had to do was return home.
Path of totality for the Total Solar eclipse of November 14, 2012, including eclipse magnitude. (c) Michael Zeiler.
I planned to spend six months in Australia, before and after the eclipse, to reconnect with family, launch Total Addiction in my home country, and conduct my next eclipse research project.
It was about two months before the eclipse when, while surveying and interviewing locals about their expectations and plans for the day, I made a startling discovery: the local community wasn’t engaged. In fact, many people were planning to leave! I was genuinely shocked by their complete lack of interest or involvement.
The problem quickly became clear. Much of the media reporting was actually deterring people. Stories only focused on potential road chaos, the region being overrun, and the primary emphasis was on tourist dollars. Eclipse visitors were were referred to as ‘science boffins’, and eclipse chasers were almost seen as curious freaks. Locals simply couldn’t relate to the eclipse, and were not hearing anything that engaged their interest. Little was conveyed about the personal experience of totality. Repeated local coverage of chaos turned people off.
What was missing from the narrative were personal stories of the eclipse – the profound experience, the awe, the insights, and the precious moments under the Moon’s shadow that inspire so many people worldwide to chase repeated experiences. Since there were no other eclipse chasers in the region at the time, this crucial perspective was absent in local reporting.
It was time for me to step up.
I dedicated my time leading up to the eclipse to sharing the experience of totality. I was determined to ensure the entire community understood its relevance and wouldn’t miss it. I arranged talks at schools and restaurants, and delivered a two-part lecture series at the university where I had completed my undergraduate degree. I met with people in libraries, community centres, local cafes, markets. With every single interaction, I emphasised that this experience was amazing for EVERYONE! I wanted to ensure people knew they would remember the eclipse for the rest of their lives, and that it was vital to plan how to view and celebrate this rare, once-in-a-lifetime event in our community. The last total eclipse in that region had been over 500 years prior.
I also conducted numerous media interviews – for TV, radio, and newspapers. Media outlets were eager to feature me as the author of the first book published on the experience of totality which gave a different perspective. But I was fully trusted as a local eclipse chaser, and that was what made the difference to engaging the community. I worked closely with the regional eclipse planners and participated in multiple media briefings before the eclipse.
While good community planning had been underway for several years, that vital personal element was indeed missing. All these efforts paid off; afterward, I received countless calls and emails thanking me for sharing that important aspect and helping the community truly grasp how special the eclipse was.
Following the eclipse, I realised a significant oversight I had as an eclipse chaser. The community along the path was important for my viewing experience, and it was wonderful to share the moment. But I hadn’t truly considered their preparations, their waiting, or their readiness, the required logistics. This was a huge realisation, and I understood then that someone with my background could play a crucial but overlooked role in future eclipse planning. It felt even more powerful because this was my own community.
As a psychologist and researcher, I recognised my unique position to delve deeper not only into the totality experience, but into the planning process.
To ensure we learned from the experience, I interviewed some of the key individuals I had worked with in the lead-up to the region’s eclipse preparations. It was fascinating to hear, in hindsight, how they realised the eclipse was far bigger and important than they had ever imagined. Initially, they thought it would be ‘just another’ event, and it wasn’t until the final few months that they fully believed how special it would be! They shared how the event would leave a long-lasting legacy on all involved in the preparations, in addition to the entire community, and reflected on what they would do differently.
I felt privileged to be in this situation and to gain a new insight into the broader eclipse experience. Moving forward, I was determined to use my skills and experience to help future communities plan. What I could uniquely do was to share the wonder and awe of totality, and to share how to engage a community to create a lasting legacy. I was able to translate the key elements of totality and relate what the experience would be like for THEM.
While also collecting all the local and visitor stories for my next research project, I felt compelled to give something back. So, I put together a book that told the story of the eclipse from the community’s perspective: Totality: The Total Solar Eclipse of 2012 in Far North Queensland.
This pivotal experience then led me to become the Eclipse Coordinator for the Faroe Islands in 2015. And that, as they say, is a whole other story!
After more than a decade of chasing eclipses, preparing my own community for the total solar eclipse proved nearly as impactful as experiencing totality itself. My contributions were later recognised with an Outstanding Alumni Award from James Cook University.
Now that I have returned to live in North Queensland, it feels like I’ve come full circle. The team behind the 2012 eclipse planning may have moved on, but the shared experience left a lasting mark on the people who experienced this incredible event on that day. The community.
TESTIMONIAL FROM THE COMMUNITY
“Your lectures were both entertaining and inspiring and very much connected with the audience. You have stimulated considerable interest in this type of natural event and many more people will be willing to go to great lengths and expense to experience a total solar eclipse event. Thank you for delivering these lectures with such passion.”