The countdown is on as Dunedin prepares for daytime darkness for the first time since 1163 AD.

On Wednesday at 4.15pm, the city marked exactly two years until the region's total solar eclipse when the moon's shadow passes directly over parts of Otago.

Claudia thought she would only see one eclipse in her lifetime.

She experienced one while working in a university hospital in Munich.

"Everybody stopped for the eclipse so the whole hospital stopped basically. No surgeries, no nothing, and we all walked out with our glasses to watch it," she said.

"Then it was dark, which was kind of beautiful but scary but weird. And then slowly the sun came back and we went back to work. But it was amazing. The whole hospital stopped."

She was walking her dog in Rotary Park as the city marked exactly two years until the eclipse.

That was where she planned to be on the day.

Tūhura Otago Museum director Dr Ian Griffin said eclipse chasers were already marking their calendars and booking trips.

"It's sudden and street lights come on and birds come home to roost and it becomes eerie and amazing," he said.

"What you see in the sky, it's like a hole in the sky. You see the black part, which is the moon covering the sun's disc, and around the sun is the solar corona which is this extended atmosphere and it's a beautiful thing to see, and it's one of the most majestic sights in nature."

The last solar eclipse visible in New Zealand was in 1965.

The eclipse would last about two hours, but there would only be about three minutes when the moon completely covered the sun.

He planned to watch it from his home on the Peninsula, which he bought 13 years ago partly with the eclipse in mind.

It would be far from his first eclipse, but certainly involved the least amount of travel.

In 2019, he flew to Tahiti and travelled on a boat for five days to experience an eclipse near the Pitcairn Islands.

"It was pouring with rain so having spent all that time and effort and money to get there, I was a bit disappointed," he said.

"But that being said, the sudden onset of darkness, even with rain and clouds and no sun visible, it was just extraordinary.

"I put it down as one of the most amazing times of my life."

Tūhura Otago Museim director Dr Ian Griffin described a total eclipse as one of the most majestic sights in nature.

RNZ / Tess Brunton

Dunedin deputy mayor Cherry Lucas said it was a rare opportunity for the city.

"There are a lot of people who follow things like total eclipses and they're already booking accommodation. A lot of our accommodation providers are saying they've already got bookings more than two years out, which is exciting," she said.

"Some of our hospitality providers are already looking at offerings that will kind of feature the eclipse."

Dunedin deputy mayor Cherry Lucas said cities have come to a standstill during a total solar eclipse.

RNZ / Tess Brunton

The city was already preparing for the eclipse with plans for a week long celebration from Matariki, she said.

"There could be like 30,000 people and I think because the eclipse is in a relatively narrow band through Otago and ... it's the school holidays, it gives people the opportunity to ... [either] fly or drive to Dunedin to be here to experience that," Lucas said.

"Cities literally come to a standstill while the eclipse happens and that is quite likely to happen here."

Dunedin House Boutique Hotel owner Anabel Tweedale was excited for what the eclipse would mean for the city.

"You're getting tourists that would never normally come to Dunedin, that would never of heard of Dunedin so I think that that's where it's so exciting to have such a great event that really showcases it," she said.

Dunedin House Boutique House owner Anabel Tweedale was keen for the city to celebrate the eclipse.

RNZ / Tess Brunton

The hotel had not opened for 2028 bookings quite yet, but that was expected to happen over the next few months.

"We get so many tourists and travellers, they're only here for a night. They need to come for two, three, four nights because there's so much more to do and so many of our guests say 'we wish we'd stayed another night'," she said.

"That's what I think is so good about something like this. A week long festival or celebration would be just wonderful."

Dr Ian Griffin said there would need to be plenty of planning to make sure it all went ahead smoothly.

It was not like a concert - even though people were still talking about the traffic jams when thousands travelled to watch Pink perform in Dunedin, he said.

The eclipse was happening on a Saturday in the middle of the school holidays.

"In America in 2017 there was a solar eclipse that caused the biggest one day motion of traffic in a couple of state's history and they had all sorts of problems," he said.

"They ran out of petrol in the gas stations and the electric cars, there were only so many places for them to recharge."

The museum has already printed about 10,000 special solar glasses ahead of the eclipse as people should never look directly at the sun without protection.