Hi Nick,
Good on you for taking the plunge and publishing your journey.
I must say it sounds familiar to many of us, and is always good to read.
You are not far too from here, and you are welcome to join us on our next dark sky journey. Subscribe or follow these Central Coast threads in the star-parties forum:
Astro Camping
or
One Night Sessions
or you may prefer to get in with the Katoomba group
(they tend to use separate threads each session)
Either way, you wont believe how much better it will be to get out under some good dark skies
Hope to see you soon.