From my experiences viewing naked eye in pitch black bortle 1 skies out of Mt Magnet, 600 km north east of Perth, I can't see any colour naked eye, but the Milky way looks a brilliant white colour, just like a white cloud! Of course any real clouds look pitch black, very ominous!
I do see colour through my 10 inch dob from my backyard though, the brighter high surface brightness planetaries look a vivid green or blue. M42 looks very green, and star colours clearly stand out.
Patrick, I reckon you should book that trip to NZ
