Following the IIS astro camp, I drove to Coonabarabran for a couple of days before heading home to Victoria.
For anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to visit Siding Springs, I really do encourage you to make the effort.
The scenery in the Warrumbungle Ranges is spectacular, and the Siding Springs Observatory is very impressive.
I managed to spend 3 hours in the Visitor Centre, the 'Exploratory', and the 4th floor level viewing area of the Anglo Australian Telescope (AAT). I think I may have been fortunate in my timing, because I actually got to see the telescope being moved, probably for maintenance.
The pictures of the telescope show some reflections because you have to take pictures through plate glass windows, and my polarising filter was down in the car!
Picture #8 shows a full size replica of the main 3.9 meter mirror. The dust cover for the mirror is shown in picture # 5. Picture #6 show the piece of Cervit cut from the centre of the mirror.
For lots of information on the AAT, try
http://www.aao.gov.au/
Cheers
Chris