IceInSpace Star Camp 2005, Ballarat Victoria

[cahullian]

thanks for the map Ken and Mike now I know where to go when I get off the plane

[Moonman (Michael)]

This sounds great!!

I'd love to come along but alas I've spent all my travel budget on a trip to Brisbane for a couple of days earlier in the month.

Hope to get to one sooner or later.

Keep up the good work guys

[davidpretorius]

Not to worry moonman, I have started the brain working on a tassie star camp say in 2006 or 7. Make some bookings at a dark site, accomodation etc. Guys could come in from around australia.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

IceInSpace 2005 Snake Valley
STAR CAMP
EVENTS PROGRAM

Sponsored by Australian Sky & Telescope Magazine

All events listed are optional

Friday 28th Oct
5pm - Camp Open
5 - 7pm - Meet & Greet get together
7pm - Viewing
___________________________________ ____________________

Saturday 29th Oct
Free Time
9am - 3pm - 'Rally in the Valley'
3pm - Beginners Workshop (Mirror cleaning, collimation)
4 - 5pm - BUY/SWAP/SELL & Vendors stalls
5pm - 'Deep Sky Observing' - David Girling
7 - 8pm - Ballarat Historic Observatory (leaving Camp at 6:30pm)
8:30pm - Viewing at Camp
___________________________________ ____________________

Sunday 30th Oct
Free Time
4pm - 'Sequence of building an Obsession Dobsonian' - Peter Read
5:30pm - Group Photo being taken (please attend)
6pm - 'SPIT ROAST FEAST' - $10 per head
7pm - 'Leonids - a night to remember' - David Girling
8pm - Viewing
___________________________________ ____________________

Monday 31st Oct
Free Time
2pm - Historic Gold Diggings & Trestle Bridge
5pm - 'Venus Transit' & Video Footage - David Girling
7pm - Raffle Draws & Competition Awards
7:30pm - Viewing
___________________________________ ____________________

Tuesday 1st Nov
Final get-together & Farewells
1pm - Camp Closed
___________________________________ ____________________
Printable version of program at bottom of this post

ATTENTION ALL NEW MEMBERS and old ones AND VISITORS TO THIS SITE:
ONLY 4 WEEKS TO GO FOLKS, GRAB YOUR ACCOMMODATION NOW OR START PACKING THE TENT AND CAMPING ACCESSORIES AND MAKE YOUR BOOKING!!!

Remember the Date: 28th October - 1st November

Wind forward your Star Map programs and have a look at the incredible list of objects for viewing during the Camp. Mars will be at full opposition!


So far those that have booked 'on-site' are:

*Ken: (ballaratdragons) x 4 nights - Paid
*John and Anna: (xstream) x 4 nights - Paid
*Dave: (Dave47Tuc) x 4 nights - Paid
*Dave's friend x 4 nights - Paid
*Darren & Family: (wombat_in_space) x 4 nights
*Trevor: (OneOfOne) and group x 4 nights - Paid
*Dave P: (davidpretorius) and daughter x 4 nights - Paid
*Steve: (Janoskiss) x 4 nights - Paid
*Geoff: (starkler) x 4 nights - Paid
*Gazza and Family: (cahullian) x 4 nights - Paid
*Peter Read: x 4 nights - Paid
*Sharon, Michael & Giles x 3 nights - Paid
*Peter: (toetoe) x 3 nights
*Peters friends x 3 nights
*Stuart & Wife: (Stu) x 2 nights poss 3 - Paid
*Bird x 3 nights
*Daniel Granieri x 2 nights

TOTAL SO FAR - approx 31 on-site

Approx 20 of those for all 4 nights!

Those attending but staying off-site:

Mike and Family (iceman) x 4 nights
Robert (Grampian Stars) x 1 night
Mick Pinner & Wife x 1 night
Tony (Striker) possibly 1 night
Dave (Snake Valley local)

Number of attendees Total: approx 41

The onsite Accommodation Still available:

1 x 8 bed bunkhouse
1 x shared 8 bed bunkhouse (5 empty bunks)
and lots of camping space for tents and caravans.

For off-site accommodation only 20 minutes away from the Camp try here: http://www.ballarat.com/peppinella.htm

EVENTS: See Events Program at top of this post
*Saturday evening visit to Historic Ballarat Observatory
*Visit ruins of Gold digging and Processing site
*Visit to Historic Wooden Trestle Bridge
*Beginners Workshop (collimating, mirror-cleaning, Star-map reading, easy-find objects)
*Speaker 'David Girling' on 3 Astronomy subjects
*Speaker 'Peter Read' on building an Obsession Truss Dobsonian
*Competitions for best Astrophoto, best home-made Astro accessory etc.
*Raffles for Astro Prizes
*Buy/Swap/Sell late Saturday afternoon
*Sunday evening 'Spit Roast Feast' (small charge)

Lake on-site, so bring your canoes, fishing gear etc.

A fully equipped kitchen, Meeting Room, Recreation Room (billiards & table tennis).
The Meeting room is available for DVD/Videos (bring some along to show).

Entry is free for on-site and off-site guests.


ACCOMMODATION FEES ON-SITE (bunkhouse per person or camp-site per person)

2 nights - $26.40
3 nights - $39.60
4 nights - $52.80
Children Under 4 - Free

If you are staying for 2 or 3 nights but decide to stay longer just let us know at the Camp.

A 'Gold Coin' donation box will be available for donations towards the running of the IceInSpace website.

*This information will be updated regularly.

DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS MEMORABLE OCCASION!

[iceman (Mike)]

Looks great Ken!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

A big thankyou to 'Australian Sky & Telescope' magazine for jumping on board and becoming a Sponsor of the Star Camp.

If you have not yet seen the Program for the Camp it is 2 posts back. Come along and join us! we are approx 40 strong now!!

[davidpretorius]

ken,

food, apart from sunday night, is there a local supermarket to buy food, do we need eskys to keep the food / milk etc

Sumthing i had not thought of! Hope my wife isn't reading this and pointing out my shortcomings!!

[xstream (John)]

David, There are 3 fridges on site available for use, Snake valley has a general store with T/A, I would imagine if you need a more comprehensive variety you would need to travel into Ballarat 20 mins drive away.

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

ken,

food, apart from sunday night, is there a local supermarket to buy food, do we need eskys to keep the food / milk etc

Sumthing i had not thought of! Hope my wife isn't reading this and pointing out my shortcomings!!

[davidpretorius]

thanks John, I assume everyone is doing the bbq / salad things for dinner most nights???

[Starkler (Geoff)]

A couple of questions...

Is there power and lighting inside the accom huts?

Has anyone checked the light situation at night in the camp area? I wonder if we need to arrange some black plastic and duct tape for the rec room or other camp buildings to cover their windows. Whilst some are observing im sure kids and others will want to use other facilities of the camp.

[davidpretorius]

i can donate as much duct tape as we need if required!

[xstream (John)]

I would imagine so David, i think that's what Anna and I will do.

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

thanks John, I assume everyone is doing the bbq / salad things for dinner most nights???

[xstream (John)]

I'm not sure about the power Geoff, I know Ken was asked the question once before but I don't know what the answer was.

The lighting situation has been checked out and yes we will need to black out a few windows and change some light globes.

Originally Posted by Starkler

A couple of questions...

Is there power and lighting inside the accom huts?

Has anyone checked the light situation at night in the camp area? I wonder if we need to arrange some black plastic and duct tape for the rec room or other camp buildings to cover their windows. Whilst some are observing im sure kids and others will want to use other facilities of the camp.

[Dave47tuc (David)]

Originally Posted by xstream

I would imagine so David, i think that's what Anna and I will do.

So is there BBQ's outside onsite?

[xstream (John)]

Yes there is Dave.

Originally Posted by Dave47tuc

So is there BBQ's outside onsite?

[xstream (John)]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.p...55,215,0,0,1,0

[davidpretorius]

oops, sorry!!

not quite as much fun as being lazy though!!!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

To help John answer some of the questions above:

5 of the 12 bunkhouses have power but I have not been able to find out which ones. I was to meet the manager there this weekend but he must have gotten waylaid. He did say there is also power in all the main buildings , the rec room and the garage. As far as I know all the huts have lights.

John and I will be blacking out any obtrusive window lights and replacing any nuisence light globes with red ones.

The kitchen is fully equipped with 3 fridge/freezers, microwave oven, conventional oven, plates, bowls, cutlery, cooking utensils etc, etc, etc.

The BBQ is an outdoor one in an attractive setting by a gazebo.

The big security floodlight is being turned off by Powercor for the duration of the camp.

As for meals, you will need to feed yourself except Sunday night when we have the feast. There is a General Store in Snake Valley (2 minutes), a take-away food caravan Fri Sat & Sun nights (2 minutes), Take-away food at the Linton general Store (4 minutes) and take-away & a smallish supermarket at Smythesdale (8 minutes). For meat it might be worth the trip into Ballarat Saturday morning and visit a butcher or larger supermarket. The 2 local General stores and supermarket don't carry much in the way of meat.

Hope that answers your queries. If you have any more just ask.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

We have just today reached the 40 mark!

40 people so far will be attending the Star Camp and there is plenty of room for lots more. There is still an 8 bed bunkhouse available, 6 bunks in another 8 bed bunkhouse and lots and lots and lots of camping space!

The invitation is open to all, so all you visitors to this forum that are reading this are very welcome too.

If you are not a member in here, you can either join and reply in this thread or ring me on 0418 425 207. We have already recieved 5 bookings from people who are not members. One read about it in here and the others read about it in Aust Sky & Telescope.

[iceman (Mike)]

Great stuff BD, only 3 weeks to go until my holiday starts!