Solar Eclipse - Australia November 2012

Here is a photo story of our adventure last week...

5 days and over 3 000 km of travel we arrived in Julatten Northern Queensland in anticipation of seeing the Solar Eclipse.

Finally the morning arrived after a night of rain. It was 4.30 am and the sky above the tent was clear and full of stars.

Paul had contacted the farmer behind the caravan park and we had permission to walk in his paddock to view the eclipse.

Walking to our viewing point.

The paddocks were beautiful and the birds were regaling us with their morning chorus

6:37 am it started getting dark.

we looked at the heavens and saw this heart in the clouds...

6:38 it was totally dark and ..... everything was silent

The clouds moved and revealed the total eclipse. It lasted for two minutes.

Total Eclipse

And in a twinkling of an eye the daylight returned.

the rays of the sun were bright

sun beginning to reappear. Third Contact Phase

"Hey Mommy the sun looks like the moon!"

The moon moving out of occlusion Fourth Contact Phase

The moment is finished.

It was an amazing experience and I hope to see the next one in Australia. Did any of you see it ?

I enjoyed the experience so much I would love to see the next one Lord willing for my 56th birthday :) 22 July 2028

Future Solar Eclipses for Australia

Blessings
Chareen

Some facts

• There are five phases of a total eclipse
  Moon's first contact
  Second Contact
  Total Eclipse
  Third Contact
  Fourth Contact
• This eclipse started at 5.44 am
• Total eclipse was at 6.38 am
• Last contact was at 7:40 am
• Duration of total eclipse 2 m 03s
• The sun is 400 times larger than the moon
• The sun is also 400 times further away that is why the moon can cover the sun.
• This eclipses path started in the Northern Territory and ended just short of South America
• Over Queensland the path was about 140 km wide
• The moons shadow traveled at 15,000 km/h 
• A total solar eclipse happens somewhere on earth approximately every 18 months.

On the web

• ABC news Solar Eclipse video
• Download a pdf from the Astronomical Association of Queensland.
• Total Solar Eclipse over at the AAQ (Teacher downloads, Website links etc)
• NASA eclipse website.
• NASA solar eclipse November 2012
• Our Aussie Homeschool Astoronomy Notebooking Journal.
• Jimmies Collage - Mapping the Solar System
• Jimmies Collage - We saw the Eclipse
• Jimmies Collage - Independent Lapbook - Eclipse
• Pinterest
• Technology facts

Koala Cuddles

A quick note to let you know that we are enjoying our holiday.  We had an amazing experience yesterday with Koala cuddles over at Kuranda Koala Gardens in Cairns Queensland.

Koala are interesting animals.

• Koala is an Aboriginal word meaning "no drink" 
• Receives over 90% of its hydration from the Eucalyptus leaves
• Arms and legs are nearly equal in length
• thick ash grey fur acts like a rain coat
• Is a marsupial
• Is the only mammal able to survive on eucalyptus leaves
• They are not bears
• They have two thumbs
• Koala babies are called joeys

On the web

• The Koala
• Australian Koala Foundation
• Wikipedia
• Zoos Victoria 
• Australia Zoo

Blessings
Charee

Solar Eclipse Cairns Australia 2012

Tomorrow we will be in Cairnes to view the total solar eclipse.  I discovered this web cam which has been set up to show the eclipse live.

Enjoy

Cairns Webcam Sponsored by cairnsinfo.com

I also discovered via Eclipse Safety Glasses Australia that this particular eclipse will be seen as far as New Zealand.

LOCAL VIEWING TIMES

LOCATION	START	PEAK	END	ECLIPSE
AUSTRALIA
Adelaide*	6:43 am	7:31 am	8:22 am		42%
Brisbane	5:56 am	6:54 am	7:59 am		80%
Cairns	5:45 am	6:39 am	7:40 am		100%
Canberra*	7:10 am	8:04 am	9:03 am		53%
Darwin	6:13 am	6:13 am	7:01 am		88%
Hobart*	7:26 am	8:15 am	9:07 am		34%
Melbourne*	7:16 am	8:06 am	9:00 am		42%
Perth	5:12 am	5:12 am	5:42 am		25%
Sydney*	7:07 am	8:03 am	9:03 am		59%
NEW ZEALAND
Auckland*	9:18 am	10:27 am	11:44 am		85%
Christchurch*	9:30 am	10:35 am	11:45 am		62%
Wellington*	9:27 am	10:34 am	11:47 am		71%
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Port Moresby	5:41 am	6:33 am	7:32 am		77%
NEW CALEDONIA
Noumea	6:52 am	7:56 am	9:09 am		90%
FIJI ISLANDS
Suva*	8:58 am	10:05 am	11:21 am		55%

* Time adjusted for Daylight Saving

Blessings
Chareen

HSMJ - Just in case you ever wonder ...

In my life this week… We were up at 4:30 Friday morning to get ready to leave by 5 am to meet up with my parents.  We will be on the road for the next five days traveling to Queensland to see the solar eclipse next week.  I feel so blessed being able to take part in this amazing adventure with my parents. Please be in prayer for us as we travel for the next three weeks. We will be back home on December first.

Future Solar Eclipses in Australia.

This eclipse is viewable from a number of places around Australia and New Zealand. 

 In our homeschool this week…

• We continued on our Abeka Maths.
• Working on logic puzzles.
• Finished reading about tadpoles and frogs.
• Observed our tadpoles.
• Prepared for our upcoming trip to Queensland.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• The Homeschool Chicks are hosting a Favourite Homeschool Teaching Tools Pinning Party / Blog Hop.  Be sure to add your post the linky is open until the end of December.
• Voting is now live for The 8th Annual Homeschool Blog Awards.

I am inspired by…

• Heidi St John who blogs over at The Busy Homeschool Mom.  This week she blogged about our value as Mom's.  Her post is titled: Redeeming the Time here is a sneak peak:
  Grandma said to me, “Heidi, the best thing you will ever do in this life is to love your husband and to raise your children to love and serve the Lord. Don’t let the world fool you into thinking that having children is anything less than the best thing you’ll ever do.” She should know.
  
  I recently spoke to a group of women in Washington about the blessing of motherhood. It seems odd to me that many Christians have bought into the world’s way of looking at children. It must grieve the heart of God when we think of our children as anything less than a gift straight from the heart of the Creator Himself......
• By some video's on God Vine. 
  Police Officer's Final Act of Kindness Caught on Tape Before Dying
  Compilation of the Best Funny Baptisms (this was really funny)
  80 Year Old Mother of Seven Auditions and Gives the Judges a Surprise
  Katy Perry Performs an Amazing Duet with a Girl with Autism
  Life of a Disabled Man is Turned Around - All Because of a Blanket this is amazing.
  Sergeant Saves an Elderly Couple Trapped in a Burning Car 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• On Saturday Sir N and Paul went rowing on the Werribee River and I joined Belinda and we went to Geelong to attend the annual Crop 4 a Cause.  We spent the day making Christmas Cards.  
• On Sunday we had a busy day we met up with my cousin who came out from South Africa, first time we have caught up in over 15 years. We met up with a home school family for morning tea, Paul worked with a TV crew doing the weather crossings. We also went to a friends house to celebrate a birthday.  It was an awesome day!
• We went to watch Maximus Musicus Music Mouse which was performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Going to watch Maximus Musicus Music Mouse which was performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
• Looking for things to photography for an Instagram photo a day challenge.

What’s working/not working for us…

• Trying to do too much school and prepare for a three week traveling vacation!

Questions/thoughts I have…

• Do you use affiliate links on your blog ?  What are your feelings if someone does use them ?

Things I’m working on…

• Setting up affiliate accounts with
• Amazon 
• Book Depository.com
• Christian Book.com
• Sonlight
• and updating my Disclosure policy. 
• As well as move some of my links from the sidbar and updating my about me page. 

On My Bedside Table ...

•  Nothings changed because we have been preparing for our trip today.

In Bloggy world I’m reading…

•  Classical Conversations over at Mount Hope Chronicles.
• Are you struggling to Disciplin your children over at Sarah Mae.
• Math Journaling over at Little Homeschool on the Prairie.  

I’m cooking…

• Pavlova for a friends birthday cake.
• Meringues for the party.
• Potato Bake for a barbeque.
• Lamb casserole
• Mince.

On Pinterest I found...

• This amazing pin. This lady is on a mission.  She takes a piece of donated clothing which is unable to be sold due to damage. Her mission is to ReFashions it and wear it.  She shows you before, the process and the result. Amazing! She does an outfit a day. The item is returned to the Thrift Store and sold to raise funds for a Woman's Shelter.

• Kim Sevier has over 8,000 pins for you to look through.
• Karyn Yamanaka with over 1000 pins.
• Laura Orak with over 4600 pins.

I’m grateful for…

• For family to love and the opportunity to go away on holiday for the next three weeks.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

From: The Busy Homeschool Mom on Facebook.

Blessings

Chareen

This post is linking to:

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
iHomeschool - Homeschool Mothers Journal

Hammock Tracks - Its A Wrap 

Maximus Musicus

On Wednesday Sir N and I joined my sister for a trip into Melbourne to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform Maximus Musicus.

We had a wonderful half an hour being introduced to classical music and the different sections of an orchestra.  Well worth taking primary aged school children.

To read more about the Maximus Musicus project  head on over to: Maximus Musicus. 
There are pdf pages to colour in which accompany this performance as well as a book with a CD available from Book Depository. (non affiliate link) There is also an app at iTunes.

Blessings
Chareen

HSMJ - Talking about High School

In my life this week…

This week I faced one of my personal homeschool struggles when I wrote my blog post on Nurturing Independence in High School. It was a healing experience for me and helped me process some things.  I am so pleased about the timing of this in my life.
In our homeschool this week…

• We have been doing LONPOS puzzles each day as a part of our homeschool routine.  I am enjoying watching Sir N conquer each one.
• Reading about tadpoles and frogs.  Watching them grow. We brought home a bottle full of them last week from Healsville.
• We have read six of the LLATL blue book readers.
• our Bible study apologetics.
• Addition Flashcards.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• Apps for teaching Social Studies over at Homeschool Mo 
• EdAlive is giving away 10,000 copies of fully functional Maths Invaders.  Pop on over and check it out.

I am inspired by…

• 31 days of Living a Family Life.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• We visited the L family, it was Mrs L birthday this week.
• Prepared for our trip to QLD
• Went to Kelly Sports on Tuesday.
• Visited Granny J.
• Visited Aunt M and played with cousins A & Z.
• We went to Bunnings to purchase supplies to fix a broken water pipe at home.
• Mr C came over for a play date with Sir N.

My favorite thing this week was…

• Reading this article: 10 Sure Ways to Get Whatever You Want From Your Parents 
• I was invited to help with Pinning on the Aussie Homeschool Pinterest boards.  Really enjoyed working on this.

What’s working/not working for us…

• I am making use of the 15 min period in teaching Sir N. 

Questions/thoughts I have…

• What is your favourite homeschool go to advice blog ?

Things I’m working on…

• Nurturing Independence in High School.
• Finally updated my Sonlight badges. 
• It's that time of the year again in Victoria Australia.  It's time to fulfil our legal requirement and update our homeschool registrations. I blogged on this topic last year.
• A photo a day challenge on Instagram. (#photoadaynov and #fmsphotoaday )

On My Bedside Table ...

• Teaching the Trivium.

In Bloggy world I’m reading…

•  I found this graphic rather interesting on Facebook.

• 10 Tips for using Pinterest Well.  Great post for pinners.
• I sadly read A Rainbow that could not stay and the things you don't expect to have to do.  If any of you have experienced the pain of loosing a child please can you pop on over to my friends blog and bless her with some words of encouragement and support.
• Are you teaching your children a biblical worldview ? over at Peace Creek on the Prairie.
• My last weekend with 30 wonderful moms….. our intensive! over at I take Joy.
• fun with instagram 20 ways enhance your Experience

I’m cooking…

• Silver side roast with potato and carrots
• Chicken.
• Kransky potatoe bake and salad.
• I'm going to try and make pavlova for a friends birthday.

On Pinterest I found...

• Classical Conversations Cycle 1 by Karyn Yamanaka 
• Aussie Homeschool.
• the Great Pinterest Link-Ups
  Week #1: The original Edu-Pinners [PreK-12th]
  Week #2: Early Childhood Educators
  Week #3: Kindergarten Kinder-pinners
  Week #4: Primary Grades Pinning People
  Week #6: Library People, Author, Book Luv'ers
  Week #7: Resources for "Special Needs"
  Week #8: Upper Elementary Perspective 

I’m grateful for…

•  The three blessings I have and the one I get to meet in heaven.  I am grateful for my blog and my ability to read and write.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

How can you have too many children, that is like having too many flowers! - Mother Teresa 

Blessings

Chareen

This post is linking to: 

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers - Weekly Wrap Up 

iHomeschool - Homeschool Mothers Journal 

Hammock Tracks - Its A Wrap 

Homegrown Learners - Collage Friday