With no news about Katoomba and the weather looking pretty bloody average this long week end. Anyone interested on a meet up on the 1st of Feb at Hargraves?
The forecast for the 1st is looking much more favorable. Supposedly sunny nearly all of next week and next weekend.
I imagine the weather will be warm, so you'll probably only need some insect repellent.
I'm good with that date and will have 2 others with me. I was speaking to Alex about this month and he mentioned the below to me as an alternative to Hargraves.
"There are two other sites I'm keen on, Mt Banks off the Bells Line of Road, close to the Mt Irvine turn off. The other is an abandoned coal mine site of the Darling Causeway between Bell & Mt Victoria, closer to Bell. Road access is better at the old mine, & though closer to the road, jack all cars use the Darling Causeway especially at night. Big open field too. Either site is also less impacted by Katooma's lights."
Unsure if you and others want to try a change of scenery for this one? The old mine sounds interesting, especially considering Alex says its a big open field.
Anyway, thought I would just put that out there if anyone is up for something different. Hopefully Alex will chime in and provide some more info on these sites.
That said, I'm happy anywhere, really need some dark sky time, looking forward to catching up with everyone after missing the last one.
I'm good with that date and will have 2 others with me. I was speaking to Alex about this month and he mentioned the below to me as an alternative to Hargraves.
"There are two other sites I'm keen on, Mt Banks off the Bells Line of Road, close to the Mt Irvine turn off. The other is an abandoned coal mine site of the Darling Causeway between Bell & Mt Victoria, closer to Bell. Road access is better at the old mine, & though closer to the road, jack all cars use the Darling Causeway especially at night. Big open field too. Either site is also less impacted by Katooma's lights."
Unsure if you and others want to try a change of scenery for this one? The old mine sounds interesting, especially considering Alex says its a big open field.
Anyway, thought I would just put that out there if anyone is up for something different. Hopefully Alex will chime in and provide some more info on these sites.
That said, I'm happy anywhere, really need some dark sky time, looking forward to catching up with everyone after missing the last one.
Cheers,
Jase
You know what. Lat's check out the mine. Got the exact address, location / GPS coordinates?
I'm not 100% certain I can make it yet but open to new sites. Looks slightly closer, at least for me up here there's a nice pie shop in Bilpin btw.
Any guesses as to the wildlife situation? One of the blessings with Hargraves is that it's exposed and doesn't seem to attract much of the 8 legged or slithery kind! ... not sure I've drawn the right conclusion there mind.
I had a look along the Darling Causeway on Google maps and found this huge clearing on the right hand side of the road about 2Kms up from Bells Line of Road. I assume this is the one your talking about Jason?
If it is. It looks really good. That's a nice protected clearing. It looks like a really dark location.
Yeah I think I know the spot you're seeing in Google maps Adrian. Attached is the location that I assume Alex mentioned to me.
Road looks sealed all the way as well. If not we wouldn't have to drive very far to get to the field.
I'll ask Alex to confirm that's the location, he sounded keen to meet up as well. We probably should arrive a little extra early for this one to be sure its a good spot just in case its not to give us ample time to head back to Hargraves. But it looks very promising.
We probably should arrive a little extra early for this one to be sure its a good spot just in case its not to give us ample time to head back to Hargraves. But it looks very promising.
I've been looking for other sites for the times when the Airfield isn't available. I've been picking Wavy's brains for this too. Like Dunk, while Hargraves has a nice big sky, it is not very friendly to lugging around a lot of heavy gear.
One place I'm keen on exploring is the Old Coal Mine, noted in Ed's link. Thing is a good reckie needs to be done, for despite the large open fields, is the site accessible? One thing about the location on the Darling Causeway is you are rocketing along at 80km/h and on a long sweeping bend, and it easy to shoot past it as it isn't signposted. The only thing that distinguishes the location is the very good driveway entrance compared to the typical driveways around here. I drove past it a couple of weeks ago, but the missus wouldn't have a bar of turning back for a Captain Cook, . Wavy thinks the site could be chained off. Someone's gotta have a look.
Mount Banks that I mentioned to Jason isn't a good option, Wavy mentioned to me. The access driveway is on a dangerous bend to start with that is hard to spot even though it is sign posted because of the bend and the speed one's travelling at along here on the Bell's Line of Road. Made more dangerous if one's arrival is at night, and trebled when leaving late into the evening. Wavy's also mentioned that the two observing sites there are not very accommodating for large groups. Best give Mt Banks a miss.
One possible site is an abandoned quarry north west and a stone's throw from Mt Victoria on Mt York Rd. In google maps it looks like a big white scar just outside of Mt Victoria. Big site and isolated, but again we need to check for easy of access.
I had a look on google streetview at Old quarry on Mount York Rd (attached is the view of the site). There is a fence on the drive way that you could obviously walk around, lugging equipment will be another issue though.
Unfortunately the google street view guy didn't drive all the way into the Old Coal Mine (That might be due to it being fenced off somewhere, I hope not).
I had a look on google streetview at Old quarry on Mount York Rd (attached is the view of the site). There is a fence on the drive way that you could obviously walk around, lugging equipment will be another issue though.
Unfortunately the google street view guy didn't drive all the way into the Old Coal Mine (That might be due to it being fenced off somewhere, I hope not).
Jase
All will be revealed tonight......just about to go to Bathurst via there......
Unfortunately the google street view guy didn't drive all the way into the Old Coal Mine (That might be due to it being fenced off somewhere, I hope not).
Jase
I cant see any gates or fences. The google car needs a lot of vertical clearance, maybe it saw the trees and said screw it.
I did notice the burnt out car near the spot. Also it looks like bushfires tore through that area recently. If thats the case then good news for Dunk, less wildlife.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harb
All will be revealed tonight......just about to go to Bathurst via there......
. Wavy thinks the site could be chained off. Someone's gotta have a look.
