[DRWskies (Josu)]

Hello, thank you for your replies, all of which I truly appreciate!

I have some news. Last week I retrieved a copy of the darwinastronomy.com site from over 10 years ago, it was stored on archive.org (the 'wayback machine', a useful page which stores snapshots of websites, forever) that allowed me to get the numbers of Allen and Matt, who I think were the ones who mainly managed the group.

So I called Allen, he was really pleasant, and he told me that they discontinued the group and website precisely 3 years ago, that people in Darwin don't tend to stick around, and that he has lost in touch with everyone including Matt (who I haven't attempt to contact yet).
But he also suggested to call him again closer to my arrival, so maybe by then we can find a way to recover people and arrange something. So, that left me an optimistic aftertaste.

Lately, I have been simulating skies in attempt to better understand what to expect. It turns out that it is possible to see all of the southern constellations despite the modest 12 deg lat, however, all night long is required as opposed to do so at locations such as Hobart or Invercargill. On late march, the sun is located far from most of the big attractions. But the SMC will be fairly close to the horizon shortly after dusk, at 19.20, so it will have to be the first priority of the session. A 78% moon will be rising at 22.30.

Pleased to read that it's possible to find good dark sites close to the city!
I will not be hiring a car this time, but I can certainly help with the car expenses of whoever offers to drive wherever we do it.

Regarding the weather in tropical Australia, it's nice to read that you get lucky nights even in the middle of the wet season! But I would like to hear more details about the transition between wet and dry seasons.
How abrupt is it? And specifically, how is it like in late March and early April?

Thank you again! and happy christmas, or happy summer