Dennis, I too would love to see the Northern Lights the way you do - and have dreamt of a trip to Alaska for a long time!
If you cannot get to Aussie on cheap seats, remember there is us too
A bit of a gambling game here in Cape Town with cloud (the day before yesterday was wonderful, last night it was raining at sunset!
) but chances are you would be able to enjoy both the comet and Crux here too
. I'll throw in Eta Carina (my top fav), the Tarantula, 47 Tuc and as a special bonus Alpha Cen.
Coffee is on the house.
However, one thing is for sure, this site is much more active with many more pictures and obs. reports than what we have, so like you I am thrilled to be allowed here as a guest of these friendly people from Aus & NZ.