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The Queensland state government expects up to 60,000 visitors will witness on Wednesday the alignment of the sun, moon and earth which creates one of the most spectacular sights in nature, essentially turning day into night.
Northern Australia is the only place where crowds will be able to view the eclipse, which will mainly take place over the vast South Pacific.
"This one is a bit unique because we are not going to have another eclipse in Australia for years," said Journeys Worldwide managing director Dick Cijffers, who runs specialist eclipse tours.
The eclipse starts at sunrise in the Northern Territory east of Darwin and passes across Australia's top eastern cape before heading out over the South Pacific towards the north of New Zealand.
From sunrise on Wednesday (2035 GMT Tuesday) the moon will begin to cross in front of the sun, gradually passing over it until it is completely covered, bringing with it a shadow path.
The whole process will take several hours, with the skies in the path gradually darkening and lightening again, but the maximum duration for the total eclipse on the Australian mainland will be two minutes and five seconds.
Voice of Russia, AFP,
