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Binoculars are closer to the naked eye
A wonderful aspect of bino viewing is that you get the closest experience to naked eye viewing in terms of the complexity of setting up.
This allows you to make a decision on what you want to look at and then get yourself to that target very fast once you get good at pointing the binoculars right where you are looking. You can easily scan from Eta Car over to nearby amazing star clusters 3532, 3114 and of course Southern Pleiades. Over to Crux and coalsack and jewel box. Of course both clouds are a must. Easy, Fast, Fun!
I have not been down there since last March but my very first southern sky night was right off the plane from California, USA and driving up from Adelaide to Port Augusta. We drove down Horrocks pass from the wine country on B86 towards A1 north and it was night and I decided right then to drive back from the motel after my wife and I had settled in the motel. Only had my trusty Canon IS binos up at a nice little parking lot where there is a Horrocks pass memorial monument but for me from the north seeing these things the first time in binoculars was just amazing and allowed me to browse 20 or more objects that I had never seen before but had longed to see for over a decade. It was bliss.
The rest of my trip offered wonderful nights through a 12" binTel dob that of course were far more detailed and another story but the 1st night out with binos I will never forget that rush of 'Wow, I am FINALLY here!'
Nice report and since you are fairly new to this I expect you may have had a similar feeling is why I bring this up in this reply.
Nice Report!
Mark
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