Friday, July 24, 2009
Today was a day for doing… nothing! What a treat that was. We would wander around the Radisson and stick our toes in the pool or the Pacific, nap whenever we wanted to, and look at beautiful skies and the surrounding flora and fauna. Myna birds seem to wait for us humans to leave things behind; they are noisy and poo all over the place!
I spent a little bit of time going through our eclipse images. It looks like I probably took one good image during totality and one or two 3rd contact Diamond Ring images.

Debbie’s photos with the 16 mm lens look dramatic to me; they reinforced my “inky black” impressions of the shadow and the colors around the horizon.

That evening, after a day of simply lounging around (sleep is overrated…), we observed the thin 26 hour old crescent Moon along with a spectacular sunset. What a treat! I had to stand there and contemplate where the Moon’s orbit had placed our nearest celestial neighbor just a scant 26 hours prior to this; the beauty of the spectacle along with the understanding of our place in this dynamic universe can be overwhelming – at least for me.

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Today we got out to see Fiji proper. Debbie, Heidi and I went on a six hour island tour. The drive itself was spectacular; the people just fantastic. We visited one of the Fijian Cultural Centers, saw sugar cane farming, many Fijian Villages, sand dunes, even a little shopping (I found no new astronomical accessories in their shops); what a treat!

That evening we were privileged to see another beautiful sunset. No green flash, though. A nice crescent Moon also was part of the show, as well as southern hemisphere delights like Centaurus, the Southern Cross, and Omega Centauri, which was awesome through a pair of binoculars. I did a little star trail photography, with some images of palm trees in the foreground.

We also had an enjoyable dinner and conversation. The hotel's master chef came over and spent some time with us; that was fun, too. One of the things about an eclipse experience is the comradre and relationships it usually builds between people; it is hard to describe unless you've "been there and done that." Jeff was asking me how I reflected on the eclipse itself; to me it also touches my soul, reaffirms my personal beliefs, and is one of the most-awesome displays in the Universe. I can fully understand how ancient peoples would have been scared to death of a total solar eclipse!

Sunday, July 26, 2009
Our last day here in Fiji before we begin the long trip home…

Dr. Mike Reynolds