Border Stargaze 2008 - 28-31 August

[spacezebra (Petra)]

Hi Doug, John, Rob, Geoff, Narayan, Erwin, Al, Leon and Allan

Many thanks for the great comments. It has been an absolute thrill to see you all again. I had a ball!

We estimated (including school groups and general public night) that over 1000 people visited Border Stargaze 2008.

The weather cleared to a crystal clear sky last night - so I do hope that Martin was able to squeeze in some views before he travels home.

Thank you all for making it such a wonderful event.

Cheers Petra d.

[iceman (Mike)]

Congrats on another great, successful event , Petra and the ASAW!

[RB (Andrew)]

Excellent guys, glad to hear BSG was a success and everyone had a ball.
Well done to Petra and the crew and I look forward to '09, hopefully I'll be able to make it down there with the family next year.

Cheers

[spacezebra (Petra)]

Thanks Mike

It was great. A huge amount of thanks must go to our Sponsors. We are indebted to them for the strong support that they provide us throughout the year and at the event itself.

Mike you have been a strong supporter of BSG and I extend a personal thankyou to you and your support team and hope that we see you at BSG 09.

Cheers Petra d.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks Petra - me too! I'll start sweet talking Kate now Might be a good opportunity to get to the snow again!

[h0ughy (David)]

maybe one day....... i might get to go....... glad everyone enjoyed themselves

[xraydelta1]

On behalf of the others in our group, I would like to thank the ASAW for a fantastic event... we will all be back for BSG in '09. Although the last day was a let down weather wise (even Petra couldn't arrange for that to be rectified) I gained a lot of knowledge about astrophotography (thanks Phil Hart) and got to 'network' with lots of others. Thanks to Rob McNaught for the photos of McNaught by McNaught.

Winning the Trivia was a boost too.

No doubt the local wineries will be posting huge profits this year.

Cheers, Richard
Eastern Australia Meteor Network
a.k.a. The Rowdy Boys & Area 52

[JohnG (John)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

maybe one day....... i might get to go....... glad everyone enjoyed themselves

C'mon Dave.......

You got to go to at least one, heaps of things for the better half to do during the day in and around the local area

Cheers

JohnG

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

Yes - don't say that with such a sad face h0ughy

geoff

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

This was my 2nd year and I will most certainly be back in 2009.

A big positive for me about this event is the fact that there are activities to keep the kids and the adults occupied around the clock and the accomodation is close to the observing field and very comfortable. Another important thing to me as the representative of the Three Rivers Foundation ( www.3rf.org ) at Border Stargaze 2008, is that this event promotes Astronomy and Science Education to the general public and school children exceptionally well. This is evidenced by the numbers of schoolchildren and "non" astronomers that attended over the 4 days.

A really excellent event that is very well organised and held at an outstanding venue. A great effort from all the team at ASAW and Wymah Valley Retreat.

Cheers
John B

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

first lot of pics of the eyepiece toss

more coming

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

Ok

so it wasn't really an ETHOS they were chucking

geoff

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

here's a plug for the vendors

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

last lot

geoff

[leon]

Good on you Geoff, great pic's, sounds like everyone had a great time, I'll be there next year for sure.

Leon

[Paddy (Patrick)]

I also want to thank Petra, Dave and ASAW for a fantastic BSG experience. Very well organised and a lot of fun. It was great to see the public response on the Friday night, to enjoy the company and telescopes of other addicts and to hear some great speakers. Not to mention the great door prize that I scored! See you there next year.

[gary]

Hi Petra,

We would like to thank Petra, David and all the hard working team of volunteers
that made Border Stargaze 2008 such a fantastic event.

Thanks also to our guest speakers who made the Saturday afternoon so
entertaining! Mai was still laughing two days later about Fred Watson's
account of "The unrevealed wonders of the heavens".

Wonderful to hear that possibly over a thousand people passed through.
Congratulations! I assisted John Bambury on the Friday night on one of the 3RF 18"
Obsessions he had brought down and I can tell you that we had lots
of members of the general public express their appreciation. Well done to all
concerned in helping showcase the skies.

Always great to catch up with so many familiar faces and great to meet so
many new ones and we would look forward to seeing a Border Stargaze 2009,
especially in the International Year of Astronomy.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[anthony2302749]

From the staff of BINTEL we would like to congratulate ASAW for making Border Stargaze 2008 such a successful event. We also extended a special thanks to Petra, David and all the volunteers for their hard work and commitment in making this event such a success. We look forward to continuing our support in 2009.

Anthony McCulloch
BINTEL Melbourne

P.S. If we can find the eyepiece (somewhere in the Rec Hall) from this year’s eyepiece throwing contest, we will have another crack at it next year and maybe this time a prize may be attached.

[astro_nutt]

I would extend my thanks to Petra, John, the good folk of the Wymah Resort, the sponsers, and all the others who made the BSG a great experience..lots of fun!!! especially having the honor of participating in the skyshow on Friday night..and most importantly..the looks and expressions of awe from the young ones..magic indeed!!!..I will definitely be there in 2009!
Cheers

[h0ughy (David)]

congrats on a great event guys and gals - wished i could have been there