Wild reports mate! loved 'em
a few omissions - I couldnt see a mention of the "Jewel Box" NGC 4755 (anyone remember the main side window view in the original star trek series of the jewel Box, that used to crack me up - anywhere they went in the universe there it was) there, or remarks on the naked eye colours of the stars that make up the cross on a really good night -
I could go on - you will have to come back in summer - even with the shorter nights - it is a joy to observe in shorts and a t-shirt as you know { no mozzies in SA - no water, so very few mozzies in the sticks at night
}
we get the last outer planets the best too
not that anyone seems to care about that one
Orion/Sirius I think even favours us a fair bit more too
I am a little curious what makes a US observer come to Oz/NZ to see the southern sky rather than Chile (dont get me wrong I am extremely glad you chose Oz and you are promoting it as the place to go :-)) ) as Chile is more on your time line and has the added advantage of higher elevations amongst other things I guess
I have noted that *very generally* Europeans tend to go to Namibia/South Africa - Japanese observers come to Aus/NZ - and the Americans tend to go to Chile to see southern skies - I just assumed it was so you dont get jetlag and they are the closest to them
Cheers
Kearn