Hi Darren
I was looking at the same part of the sky last night, too! We had what started out as a clear sky, but unfortunately the clouds came in from the East by ~ 2230
.
In my 10" Dob, M42 looked splendid, and I'm sure I was seeing red/blue nebulosity - it usually looks grey to me.
A clealy banded Jupiter, and its moons, looked so good all lined up at x50. At x100 the atmosheric turbulence was not kind to this great view.
To top it off, the stunning 43 Tuc near the SMC, and the Tarantular Nebular in the LMC, completed the evening before the sky disappeared.
To more clear skies!
Cheers
John