Hi Mark,
If your dates are flexible, you might want to consider joining us at
one of these events next year :-
http://www.ozsky.org/
Typically we hold an event every year in April at Coonabarabran and
a smaller event in October in the NSW Southern Highlands.
The sole purpose of these events is to allow northern hemisphere observers,
such as yourself, the opportunity to view under dark Australian skies using
large aperture telescopes.
The events are held on a not-for-profit basis and are
hosted by a group
of local volunteers, all of whom are highly experienced observers themselves.
The good news is that you need not bring a scope. We have an arsenal of
telescopes including several 18" Obsessions, a couple of 25"'s and a 30"
all equipped with Argo Navis units and ServoCATs.
See
http://www.ozsky.org/equipment.asp
Each scope has its own box of TeleVue eyepieces but we encourage you
to bring your own favourites as well.
We have been doing this now for several years and at the April event
we will typically see about two-dozen of your fellow countrymen down
here at a time. We have also had observers from the U.K. Canada and
South Korea attend.
Many attendees have attended on multiple occasions.
At the Coonabarabran event, we also have day tours, including
inside-tours of the 3.8m telescope at the AAT and of the Compact
Array radiotelescopes at Narrabri.
Alternatively, there are several private observatories that I am sure other
posters will be able to advise on which ones are current.
