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Originally Posted by LT_Ng
Hello Octane, Gary, Norm and Paul,
Thanks so much for your advices and suggestions.
I think I know a bit about the weather pattern in Australia in July and August, and that is why I went to Coonabarabran for astronomy in the past years. How about the weather in the east coastal area this year? We have a very abnormal weather in HK this year. It is almost half of a year past, but we could only have total number of clear sky less than 10 for astronomy! Seemed it was a wet and rainy year in HK this year. Is Australia, especially for the coastal area between Sydney and Brisbane, of the same case?
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Hi Wiliam,
Hong Kong's monsoonal weather bears more resemblance to tropical weather
in regions of Australia north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The type of humidity you
experience there in Hong Kong in August is more like what one would experience
here in Australia in places such as Darwin or Cairns in January.
For regions south of the Tropic of Capricorn, which are the destinations
you are planning on touring, the climate is more temperate. July, August and
September are the drier months in Sydney but when it clouds over, as it
is today, it tends to stay that way for days at a time. The weather systems involved
at this time of year often cover a major part of the state, so if it is raining
in Sydney, it is likely to be raining up and down the coast and some way inland of the state
as well. Summer, on the other hand, is often typified by clear and very hot days,
then a build up with a thunderstorm in the afternoon that then
often clears by late evening.
When you travel west from Sydney, the landscape is predominantly green
even out to Coonabarabran, as you are familiar with. Travel several more
hours in a generally north-westerly direction and some time before you
reach Bourke in the state's far west, the soil turns Martian red and pretty much
continues that way across the continent until you reach the shores of the
Indian Ocean on the other side.
When it comes to weather for observing in Australia, I have a saying, which is that
the inland of Australia is not all desert without good reason.

The reality is that
the coastal areas of Australia are green and wetter than the inland regions and the
further you go inland, the drier and clearer and warmer it tends to be. So, for example,
if one were coming to Australia to see a rare astronomical event and one had
a choice of either setting up a scope at, say, Port Macquarie on the coast or at, say,
Bourke in the states far north-west, to have the maximum chance of clear skies
one would plan on Bourke.
Places such as Coonabarabran, Mount Kaputar, Nyngan are a compromise in
one sense in as much as that they are away from the coast and tend to be
on average, drier, but aren't as far to travel to as say Alice Springs.
The risk one runs on an astronomy expedition to Australia where the observing
locales are chosen to be east of the Great Dividing Range is that one could
get a full two weeks of overcast skies. The contrary is also true, where you could
get two weeks of clear skies. However, with that in mind, if it were I, I would make
my plans as flexible as possible. As suggested earlier, get yourself a hard copy
of the NRMA Accomodation Guide and a SIM module for your mobile
phone when you arrive. When you arrive, if the weather is fine on the coast,
pick accommodation out of the guide and phone ahead and book. If the weather
forecast is not looking so promising and you really want to observe, then look
at the weather bureau forecasts and if need be "head west young man". If it
looks clear in, say Nyngan, book yourself a room and if you don't mind driving,
start driving. Your old haunt at Coona' might also be the go in that instance.
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I will follow your suggestions to go inland more for astronomy in the 1st week, and may be back to Coonabarabran again. But we must visit those interest places suggested by Norm when being back to Sydney along the coastal highway from Brisbane.
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Sounds like an excellent plan. Then you get to do a bit of both.
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Tasimania is another place I want to visit, and I think it is the most beautiful season from March to May. Is it right?
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Tasmania is a fabulous place to visit, but it certainly is not the observing
destination of choice. Tasmania is an "all four seasons in one day" place and
it is not uncommon to have a blistering hot day in December but for it
then to start snowing at places such as Cradle Mountain. The weather there can
also be incredibly different at any two places only a hour apart. March to
May is certainly a nice time to visit though with regards site seeing.
When planning a trip from A to B in Tasmania by road, always count on it taking
much longer than the number of km on the map would indicate, often owing to
the winding or slow going roads.