There were oohs, aahs, cheers and even tears as an estimated 60,000 scientists, astronomers and eclipse-chasers turned their eyes to the skies over Cairns and the Great Barrier reef to witness this morning’s total solar eclipse.

At 6.38am (Queensland time) day became night for just under two minutes as the moon moved across the sun for the “totality” of a full solar eclipse, the first the region had experienced in more than 1300 years.

Tourism Queensland Acting CEO Leanne Coddington said for the eclipse aficionados who had travelled from the US, Asia, Europe and the UK, and millions more who watched the event live online, the spectacle didn’t disappoint.

“For the last 24 hours the two sentences on everyone’s lips were ‘What will the weather do?’ and ‘Where are you watching from?’,” Ms Coddington said.

“It rained during the night and at first light there were some clouds on the horizon but just before 6.30am they parted and for the thousands of people lining the beaches, on dive boats, cruise ships, hilltops and hot air balloons nature turned on an incredible spectacle.

“Along Port Douglas’ Four Mile Beach and Palm Cove, thousands of eclipse viewers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a veritable United Nations, coming together for a single moment in time.

“We even heard there was a marriage proposal in one of the hot air balloons over the Atherton Tablelands.”

Fenella Kwong travelled from Brisbane to see the eclipse and will now spend four days in Palm Cove, including visiting the Great Barrier Reef.

“This is my first eclipse and I was up at 3am this morning to make sure I got a good spot,” she said.

Mike and Elizabeth Davies travelled from London to experience their eighth eclipse, and will spend two-an-a-half weeks travelling Australia.

“We love it here and the people are incredibly nice,” Mr Davies said.

“We’ve been to Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef so using eclipses is a great way to see the world.”

Yeung Chak Fung Dagan and Peter Hin Yan Ghaw came to Queensland with a group of astronomy friends from Hong Kong and chose the beach at Palm Cove as their preferred eclipse viewing spot.

“This is our second eclipse,” said Mr Yeung.

“It is very beautiful here – we love it!”

Ms Coddington said now that the eclipse was over many visitors would holiday in the region for several days.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Officer Rob Giason said the eclipse had given Tropical North Queensland priceless exposure.

“Never before have we had such an enormous audience focused on our region,” he said.

“Many of our 60,000 visitors were here for the first time so we have made the most of our opportunity to showcase the region and inspire them to return."