Do you ever go out by yourself

[Harb]

Does anyone else go out to remote locations and have a solo starparty.....

Not just out in the yard lol, I mean a few days totally isolated no one around...... just you, and maybe your dog......sleep during the day and on the eyepiece all night.

It can be a bit errie at night, but is can also be kind of relaxing too.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Harb,

A bit eerie!? I'll say!

I have had the bejeesus scared out of me once at Linden Observatory when I was there by myself and a wallaby decided to BOUNCE through the bush and freaked me out.

Another time, which was worse, was when I went to Linden, but the gates were closed, so I decided to head to King's Tableland in Wentworth Falls further up.

I drove down the ridgeline for about 5 mins and found a nice entrance road on an exposed ridge with almost 360 degrees panorama and DARK skies. After it took me 15 mins to set everything up, I was in heaven, Andromeda was naked eye, I had gorgeous views, complete silence, inky blackness, coffee, chips and cigarettes (the three C's) and spent a good 4 hours touring visually.

THEN.

I felt a little bladder pressure imminent so I toddled over to the edge of the clearing where the scrub was to relieve myself, lovely still air, staring up at the Milky Way with my old feller out and the sound of tinkling water as I did what I needed to do......when......

BAM, CRASH, THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP, coming closer and closer from in the darkness....STRAIGHT FOR ME.

Here I was, 90kms from home, in the middle of freaking nowhere, NOBODY knew where I was, NOONE around for at least 5kms, wife thinks I am at Linden about 15 ks away, PITCH BLACK, it would take me 15 mins to pack up....AND a steady stream of warm, filtered blood is pouring out all over the bush from an area that no longer has any testicles visible as they had already retreated from whence they came.....

Needless to say I stood there, half frozen from inability to stop my business and zip up, a quarter from terror of WHAT THE F.....is that??? and the rest of me remembering THAT scene in American Werewolf in London in the Scottish highlands where the two backpackers were warned to stay on the roads.....you know the one!

SO, after a few more bash, bash, crash, thumps, I had zipped up, spun around with a rapidly spreading stain in my jeans, RAN to the car, THREW the scope in the back FULLY assembled, SHUT all the doors, LEAPT into the driver's seat, started the ignition and NOTHING!?!?! CLICK CLICK CLICK, no engine, no starter motor......CRAP, I AM DEAD!!!! AHHHHHHH......

I look down, its still in bloody DRIVE!!!!, DAMN, whack it in neutral, start the car, and TEAR OFF down the dirt track like my pants were on fire and stuffed with flesh eating ants!!!!

It took me until Penrith 40kms away to stop looking in the rear vision mirror and my adrenalin had calmed to the point where I decided I could STOP DOING 120kms per hour.....all the while I kept thinking, OVER AND OVER......"Stick to the roads, BEWARE OF THE MOORS"!!!!

I don't know if it was the Lithgow Panther, a Bunyip or the Boogie Man, but I didn't stick around to find out.

They never did find those two American Hikers........

Still gives me goosebumps to this day.

C...C.....C.....C......Chris

[Harb]

Hahahaha , thats a cracker......

it is nothing short of amazing what our minds can come up with while standing in the dark lol
My 2 Dark sky sites are both about 6 hours from home, and a good 10kms from the nearest house, which a lot of the time is empty.......
I am hoping one day I will witness a UFO landing lol......now that would be the best adrenaline rush ever haha

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Yep, the imagination is a powerful instrument indeed.

A UFO I could handle, little green men, big eyes, spaceships, the superior technology etc.

being ripped limb from limb on an isolated fire access trail by denizens unknown with my todger hanging out, well, that's not something I would enjoy in a hurry

I just re-read the story again, still gives me goosebumps.....

Eeek!

Cheers

Chris

[Harb]

haha I can see it all unfolding lol

Some of the best times I have had in Astronomy were when I was a kid about 13 years old, when my mate and I would lug our trusty Tasco's out into some remote place a few miles out of town for an overnight astronomy camping trip......every noise was big rush hahaha sleeping on rolled out sleeping bags looking up at the sky was a time I will never forget.......it was back in a time when foul play, was a thing chooks used to do, and our parents never had a worry........those really were the days.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Yeah, its funny Harb,

As teenagers, we used to ride our bikes WAYYYY down into the national park to the Blue Gum Camping area near Winmalee and camp for the weekend, light a massive fire in the fire pit and explode baked bean tins in the fire, showering our tents with embers and tomato sauce propelled grenades, all the while hearing mysterious sounds in the bush and telling horror stories around the fire with our torches under our chins....you know the one about the hook on the car door handle?

and NEVER once were we scared enough to pee our pants like I did that night!!!!

Ahhhh, the innocence of youth, I WANT IT BACK!!!!!!

Cheers

Chris

[Harb]

hahaha.......I am going to be thinking about this on my solo outing in the next couple of days....... hope I dont talk myself into bailing lol

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

I drove down the ridgeline for about 5 mins and found a nice entrance road on an exposed ridge with almost 360 degrees panorama and DARK skies.

Hi Chris, would you mind pointing this place out on a map? Might be worthwhile checking out. I'm not afraid of possums...

Cheers
Steffen.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

I would like to know this magical location too!

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

You guys aren't into forensics too right?

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

I always tend to go out to darker skies by myself. When Comet Lovejoy (Xmas 2011) was around, I drove about 30 mins to a relatively dark site near McLaren Vale. It was at the end of a dirt track and looked over a few open paddocks. Thinking back, it was a tad scary as there were quite a few farm animals that started making noises as twilight approached. Plus, a few koalas scared the c**p out of me in a couple of trees not far from where I had my camera set up.

[gregbradley]

I have a few times. Not ideal as if anything happens you're on your own. But really the Australian bush isn't particularly dangerous at night (as far as I know).

I was a bit spooked last time at my dark site property. I went right over into the back paddock where I don't normally go. Long grass which is dry - snake heaven.

I set up on a nice rock with my 2 dogs on patrol. I hear this creaky sound. I look around with my torch - nothing. I start taking a nightscape and I see the dog checking out a spot and jumping at something - probably a grasshopper. The creaky sound again. I am on a big exposed flat rock. I look harder with the torch and the creaky sound is a large shed brown snake skin. Hmmm. He must be around somewhere as I doubt he sheds his skin far from where he lives. So I decide discretion is in order and pack up and leave to the usual spots!

I also one night after a fire had gone through my property was standing outside my observatory waiting for a 10minute sub to finish so I could check it. I hear a slight rustle and put the torch on the ground to see a very healthy look large funnelweb making tracks to not too far from where I am standing over scorched ground. No dooubt the fire exposed his home or something. That was slightly worrisome but generally I find there is nothing out there to bother you. The occassional bat can strafe you. Its more bugs.

Greg.

[leon]

I love it Chris, yea mate, it happens to all of us occasionally. but would you not have loved to stay to find out what that really was ??

Leon

[Octane (Humayun)]

At Belanglo State Forest. A wombat or kangaroo or something scared the absolute crap out of me! :O

H

[Ric]

I tend to get snakes usually Brown's and Tigers wandering around the scope on hot summer nights on their way to the dam.

The problem is that I usually notice them after they have been through and are moving off.

As a result I now dont do much astronomy for the three months over summer and wait until the cooler months.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by Octane

At Belanglo State Forest. A wombat or kangaroo or something scared the absolute crap out of me! :O

H

Did it answer to "Ivan"?

Maybe Belanglo's reputation would make it a bit scarey, though of course even there strangers haven't jumped out of the bushes and attacked people. I used to observe by myself quite often and also camp alone. Once you get past the initial spooky feeling it's perfectly OK. At the observing spot I did work out an escape path in case a car came in but nothing ever happened. The roos used to graze just metres from me - I could hear them chew - but they all behaved themselves.

Of course sometimes it's the astronomers who scare people. About 5 years ago a few of us were at Bargo - all quiet, no lights - when we heard a car come in without its lights on. We stayed very quiet. We could hear the conversation and realised it was a drug deal. I also heard a woman say that she was finding this scarey. Just then one of us made a noise and said something. They heard it. A male voice said "Oh 'far out' it's a bust!!!" Motor started, wheels spinning, lots of dust and no more interruptions.

[astroron (Ron)]

I was at a friends place up in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina in the winter of 1987.
I went up to the top of a hill at the back of his place to see if I could spot Polaris and other northern hemisphere objects with my 15x65 binoculars,I was only there a few minutes when there was a sound of creaking and braking of under growth, I ran down the hill for dear life, falling over a number of times over fallen logs till I reached the safety of the house.
Went back up the hill the next morning and saw a number of very large bear paw prints.
Needless to say, no more going up there to look for Polaris
Cheers

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

You lot do scare easily..... But....My biggest fear is just stepping on a Brown Snake in the dark, they do their moving around at night.

[MrB (Simon)]

Rustling sounds don't bother me, usually a roo or a fox or sheep or something.
Roo shooters tho, they scare the crap out of me, especially the first shot you hear if it's fairly close!
I'm always worried about that one stray shot, so I usually get the torch out so the shooters can see there is someone nearby.

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by MrB

... especially the first shot you hear if it's fairly close!

Shots you hear aren't the problem, it's the one you didn't hear that got you! But, if you hear any "lead wasps" .... duck!!

I have many plans to go out alone. However, I never do, on account of being lazy.