You don't need perfect dark skies for meteor observing. The International Meteor Organisation
http://www.imo.net/ advise that a limiting magnitude of 5 or better is all you need. 30 minutes drive past the edge of suburbia, and that's generally enough.
That IMO site accepts observation submissions from amateurs, and they are dead keen to get them from anyone south of the equator.
If you don't mind the early morning start times, any time after midnight is good for meteor observing.
The last time I did it, I recorded 12, and that was not during a predicted shower.