Quote:
Originally Posted by karena
Thank you for all of your responses. Just to verify character and safety, does anyone know Alen,L? Id love to have the opportunity to meet up and take photos and it would be nice to have verification from someone who knows him.
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We're all a pretty friendly and safe bunch here, undesirable types dont hang around here and arent tolerated. Besides astronomy attracts the more patient types not heroin junkies. I should have clarified my post which may have sounded bleak. Sydney just like all major cities has a population in the millions and on the whole are a trustworthy friendly lot of people. It only takes one bad apple, one drunken lout to mess up your experience, so just exercise common sense. Expect a few drunk encounters late on a friday/saturday night like anywhere else. Expect crowds and parking to be difficult and hence locals to be a bit rushed and stressed on the public transport. So don't barge your way through carrying tons of gear expecting lots of smiles. But unlike America you're not likely to get shot behaving that way. If you're in town during a major event like mardi gras expect massively more crowds etc. I don't know Allan L personally but he's a long standing and active member on the forum and his invite is very reasonable, travel in sydney is slow no matter what you use and you do have to get a fair way out to get away from light pollution. The north of sydney is more national park and less built up so you get better sky views, you just need a good vantage point to get views down to the horizon. I would advise against just heading north on your own to NOT meet up with someone and expecting to find a road shoulder to pull over and set up, thats just asking for trouble with transport trucks whizzing past heading to brisbane etc. We do have tough gun laws here so dont expect a national park with lurking survivalist types carrying AK74s, just doesnt happen in Australia. My guess is the worse you can expect is running out of sauce for a bbq sausage with Allan
Try contacting Allan or anyone else that offers and maybe see if you can hook up on skype to get awkward hellos out of the way and he's probably just as nervous of you too. Australia is a huge country and often you'll find folks here travelling and looking to meet up, I know its scary meeting strangers but there's no expectations like a date and it would be a shame to miss out on a great experience after coming all this way. Offer of a bed for the night is not out of place here either. Drink driving is a big no-no here and most people have a spare room and comfy sofa bed for visitors who drink a bit much and shouldn't be driving. Maybe its a cultural thing for aussies to be so trusting like this? For me its a normal thing.