Pony club 26 th July

[Arthur Alchin (Arthur Alchin)]

Just at peats ridge and the sky is looking pretty good

[Arthur Alchin (Arthur Alchin)]

Just arrived and opened the gates, the grass is quite low and it is spitting at present with blue sky behind

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl

might be another rain event about 4pm - but will totally clear after that for a great nite

I AM A DEFINITE STARTER

geoff

Spot on Mr Owl, clouds have rolled in again and looks like it might rain but this should clear later to a fantastic night.
See you guys later in the evening.

RB

[RB (Andrew)]

That's all the rain.
Sun's back out and looks clear.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

OK Thanks for the updates guys.

Just about to leave.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

All packed. Will see you all in an hour or two!

Looks like being a night of excellent transparency, not so fantastic seeing, and a fair amount of dew. But DEFINITELY worth the effort!

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by Rodstar

Looks like being a night of excellent transparency, not so fantastic seeing, and a fair amount of dew.

... and a night of good Port, good Cigars and good company...

RB

[bones]

Hi everyone.
Thought I'd be first to report in after last night. Considering I got there late and left early, I'll let someone else report on what happened and the conditions etc. It felt good to be back at the PC for what could easily have been a 2 yr absence. Good to catch up with some familiar faces - Rick, Owl, RB, Allan, Rod, & Arthur. Some there I didn't get to talk to - hopefully next time. Thanks to Rick & Rod for the views through their scopes.
Till next time...
Tony

[gmbfilter (Geoff)]

Good to be at the PC again
I'm scopless again (between scopes)
Good great views through some fantastic scopes
Thanks everyone

[RB (Andrew)]

Great to catch up with everyone.
It was a good night, stayed clear but seeing wasn't crash hot.

Thanks to Rod and Rick for the wonderful views through their scopes.
Great to see most of the regulars and good to see Tony (bones) again.

It was fantastic to meet the boys from the Katoomba group, Adrian (AG Hybrid) and Edison? (killswitch), hope you guys enjoyed the night.
We'll need to return the favour and visit a Katoomba night soon.

Thanks for the company everyone and hope to see you all again next time.

RB

[Inmykombi (Geoff)]

I am so glad it stayed clear for you all. It's a shame I missed it, but even today, my head is weird ( no comments from anyone please ). It's a vertigo thing now, I just have to wait for it to settle before another busy workin week.
How many turned up ?

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

great nite for -

meteor watching
weber pies and sausage rolls
apple charlotte
home made biscuits
hot chocolate
old visitors
new visitors
great scope views - even on a so-so nite

what a great way to start celebrating a birthday

thanks guys

geoff

[Rick Petrie]

What a great get together last night. A good roll up and good to meet all the guys from the mountain (Katoomba).
It stayed clear all night and we did some good galaxy tours and usual suspects.
It was like the days of old with Geoff (filter), Bones (Tony) and RB (Andrew).
Thanks to Rod for loaning me his Terminagler to do a shoot off with my recently purchased ES 30 and also for the 'mothers milk', Thanks also to RB for the stogie (nice), to Arthur for those pies and snagrolls, to Allan for the apple charlotte and to everyone who made it such a good night. We shut the gates at about 1:30am.
Here's to the next one.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Thanks for having us. It was a good night.

[Rick Petrie]

Originally Posted by Inmykombi

How many turned up ?

I think it was about 14 Geoffro.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

A great turn out, thanks to everyone, especially Arthur for the pies and sausage rolls
and Rod for the boutique bourbon

But a big raspberry for the Pony Club officials who did not respond to my numerous communication attempts to have some basic amenities open.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Yes, it was a good night.

Loss of power (flat battery) curtailed my evening at around 10:30. Managed to get a good look at Neptune, but Pluto eluded me this time. After looking through Rick's scope with the OIII filter (at Eta Carina, and a couple of other sights), I think I am going to have to spend some cash and get me one of those!

An excellent turnout - it was like days of old!

Allan, regarding the amenities ... Is there a way that we can get access via the Gosford council? Or is the building a separate kettle of fish to the grounds?

[killswitch (Edison)]

Had a great night guys. Thanks for having us.

I've put a bookmark on my GPS for next time so i dont get lost in the dark.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Originally Posted by Shano592

Allan, regarding the amenities ... Is there a way that we can get access via the Gosford council? Or is the building a separate kettle of fish to the grounds?

Been down that road Shane.
In short, no.
They have no (direct) interest in what goes on up the Mountain.
It is a tangled mess of Mangrove Mountain Committee, the 7 Trustees (of which 2=PC and 2=JC), Crown Lands, and last I heard, The PC and JC were applying for sole lessee status, which would give them complete control over everything.

PC=The Pony Club
JC=The Jump Club

The PC were sympathetic to our cause, but needed agreement from the JC to grant us access.
They promised to let me know.
But now they don't even return my messages.

One of the trustees went to bat for us, but she was outnumbered.

An official of Crown Lands (who were looking at granting their lease) said he would help, but he too failed to be reliable.

And with the potential of the international college being built next door, it may not even matter.
At this stage, I am thinking more of the Paintball Place or The Glider Club.

[glend (Glen)]

Hmmm, wonder what it cost to lease some Crown Land? Could be an option for the new dark site out off the Golden Highway. Do you have a contact there Allan_l?