Hi Joe,
If you had been fortunate enough to come next April rather than in August,
you could have joined fellow northern hemisphere observers at the
OzSky 2015 event, also known as the Deepest South Texas Star Party.
We host it specifically for overseas visitors to showcase to them the
southern skies using an array of large aperture Dobsonians. It is held
15 minutes drive away from the Sidings Springs observatory.
Over the years we have had quite a large number of Texan visitors
come to OzSky, including several from Fort Davis.
Reciprocally, a few of us have been to Fort Davis to attend TSP.
I was there in 2007 and visited the McDonald Observatory on a
couple of occasions. I am likely to be in Dallas and the north of Texas
this coming March.
When planning your trip don't forget that, like the continental United
States, Australia is vast.
You might consider flying between major destinations and renting
a vehicle from there. There are two major budget carriers,
Jetstar &
Virgin Blue.
Their airfares tend to go through a cycle depending upon the destination
and demand and so sometimes their prices for a given flight will
depend upon when you committed to purchasing it.
There are typically several rental car franchises at each of the airports.
Just because you managed to get a good price with one company
at one airport, don't assume that is universally true across the country.
Compare the prices for each company at each airport. For example,
sometimes the rates out of Avis, Hertz & Europcar can be cheaper than
the "budget" operators.
We drive on the left.
Easy to forget, particularly if you have pulled off the side of a quiet
road to take photos and then start driving again with no other
vehicles to make reference to. Eugene Shoemaker was killed
in a 4WD accident out here in 1997. The coroner's report suggested
he instinctively pulled to the right into the path of another oncoming
4WD on a narrow desert track in West Australia.
Some years back, an entourage of well known American amateur observers
were here and managed to rear-end a total of three Toyota 4WD's they were
driving when the one driving out front decided to pull up quickly to look
at something on the sealed road between Darwin and Alice Springs. Suffice to say
the rental car guy in Darwin was not impressed with them.
There is a jet airport both at Uluru and Alice Springs. Though the
road between Alice Springs and Uluru is sealed, renting a 4WD
out of Darwin or Alice Springs will afford you the opportunity to explore the
surrounding region on unsealed roads. For example, the Mereenie
Loop road (check with the rental company that they will allow
you to drive it) takes in the West MacDonnell Ranges, Kings
Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tjuta. I always like to take the drive from there
to Rainbow Valley and then the back 4WD track that follows the old
Ghan railway line back to Alice Springs. But only do it in the dry.
Sidings Springs is a bit tricky to get too in that it is not serviced
by airflights. Either drive the 5-1/2 hours from Sydney or fly
or catch the Country Link train to Dubbo and rent a car from there
and drive the 2 hours to Coonabarabran.
If you have any specific questions, please feel free to post them here.
Best Regards
Gary Kopff
Wildcard Innovations Pty Ltd
Mt Kuring-Gai NSW 2080
+61-2-9457-9049
Don't worry about bringing a scope, there are a lot of nice folk here in Brisbane and Australia that will lend you a good Mak-Cas Go-to or what ever you need.
besides camping there are bunks and it is catered for an extra fee.
I am debating though about traveling solo and attending the Queensland Astrofest and maybe going to Uluru. I have never traveled overseas before and I am bit hesitant to go by myself. if I do decide to go solo, some travel tips would be of great assistance.
AstroFest is a great event, lots of friendly folk, and it's relatively close to Brisbane (2 hours by car).
