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Hi All,
I was up at Mudgee last weekend at the Sutherland Society's star party and while it was mild and blithe during the day, the moment sol dipped below the western horizon, so too did the mercury -- rapidly.
On the Friday night / Saturday morning and Saturday night / Sunday morning it was -2 when I hit the hay around 4am and dropped another degree after that before sunrise. I could hear my mate Gary in the bunk opposite (in our old van), who had a heap of clothes on, in a sleeping bag and with another sleeping bag on top shivering as I was drifting off to sleep.
Fortunately, I invested in a Kathmandu goose down sleeping bag about 2 years ago and even though I only had a tee-shirt and jocks on, was as warm as toast. Kathmandu sales are wonderful things. This bag was very expensive at $280 after 60% off the full retail price, but is worth it.
I remember waking up at about 6am on Saturday morning and my nose was numb and cheeks (on my face) tingling with the cold. It was not easy getting up to um ... you know ... irrigate a thirsty-looking tree (as you do) -- in thongs and tee-shirt ... in the dark.
While it was very cold, it was also dry and there was no condensation on the optics all night. Just some frost on the 'scope particularly on the shroud.
All good fun.
Best,
Les D
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