Well I have to report that Joy and I had a great night at Ron's last night.
Before you all start cursing, no, the weather didn't change, in fact it would be the only time in near 3 years of visiting Ron that we didn't see a single star, at all, not one! Not there, not on the way home, nothing at all.
However we had modified our plans too, no tent, no sleepover, and didn't take my 12" either (though I did have the 20x80 bino's on board just in case) but we had a great afternoon / evening with plenty of "illuminating"
discussion, ranging from "who's doing what" here on IIS through to the life cycle of kangaroos, the life cycle of stars, snake catching, the Big Bang & Cosmology in general, planning some "footpath astronomy events for IYA 2009, String Theory, and where to get a really good knockwurst in Germany. I kid you not!
On the way home we explored some new (not completed) backroads in the Caloundra area which led us to sitting in the car watching a youngling fox off the side of the road, who was both intrigued and slightly wary of us. About 70 metres back we'd seen 2 hares on the newly layed and watered green turf, I figure he was lining himself up for a 1am bunny snack when we came along.
Anyway thanks Ron for your hospitality, was great to see you again. Looking forward to next time, maybe we'll even get to do some observing if the weather behaves.