Astro-lodging in south/south-east.

[SimonDV (Simon)]

Hello


My name is Simon, I'm member of the CERN astro club in Geneva (Switzerland) and Astroqueyras (France) and in July, I will be travelling to Australia (for work) for the first time. I will spend two weeks for vacation after work, and I would be really interested to know if there is any possibility of finding an astro-lodge in the south or south east of Australia (my starting point is Melbourne) so that I could enjoy the splendours of southern sky from a very dark place with nice instrumentation. I googled the web to find such info but it sounds that such existing infrastructure are more on the west (Perth,...).

If you have such info, I would be very happy to know about them :-)

If this has been already discussed somewhere else in the forum don't hesitate to point me to the right place

Thanks a lot in advance


Simon

[Sirius1066 (Earl)]

Hi Simon,

I'm not sure if this helps you. Last year I stayed in a great guesthouse with its own observatory. It was fantastic, I really enjoyed it. http://www.twinstarguesthouse.com/

It is however a quite a distance from Melbourne. It is a little under 3 hours drive south west of Brisbane, or about 9 hours north of Sydney.

That being said, I can really recommend it. It has wonderful dark sky's and a fairly good setup.

I hope this helps.

Earl.

[SimonDV (Simon)]

Hi Earl,


Thanks so much for the comment. I had indeed seen that possibility, but the distance might be a showstopper. But since it sounds like a good option (also according to you who have tried it) I will consider it seriously though.

Besides I will also try a very desertic place to enjoy a totally dark sky (1 on Bortle scale), even without a scope. Here in western Europe, black skies have basically disappeared, so I would like to remind how it is (I only saw it once in Morocco 15 years ago) :-)

Thanks again and clear skies!


Simon

[dannat (Daniel)]

July isn't the best time to be observing around Melb, it is often cloudy

You might contact the state astro society Asv.org.au

[Sirius1066 (Earl)]

Originally Posted by dannat

July isn't the best time to be observing around Melb, it is often cloudy

As a former Melbournite I'm with you on that one dannat. July is a shocking time of year for astronomy in Melbourne. However the further north you go the more likely you are to have clear skies in July.

In Queensland for example Jul/Aug is the best time of year for clear skies.

[SimonDV (Simon)]

Hello (I should say good morning I guess, here it is 1.15 am :-))

I plan to go northward anyway, first to find a dark place and also dry conditions. I have read about the weather at the period in Melbourne, probably not the best place indeed :-)


Thanks!


Simon

[Chris.B (Christopher)]

Not good for cloud in July, but if it's clear it is magnificent.
Full emu time. Firt time I saw the clear winter sky from Heathcote I was blown away.
Definitely worth a try if clear. you only need to go a few hours north of Melbourne for really good dark skies.