Whenever I hear Frank Sinatra singing “Fly me to the Moon”, it will remind me of the Twilight Tour we did at the Mt John Observatory last night. But more on that later. I had rugged up quite well before I left and was surprised when the driver insisted we all wear the Arctic quilted jackets provided. Gee, I wonder why.
We headed off in a mini bus for a 15 min drive up to the observatory with a wonderful group of people (can be a bit of lottery sometimes). The driver gave a commentary but regrettably, the only thing I remember is that the Mt John location is very dry and perfect for stargazing as moisture tends to scatter the light. What I do remember is the arid beauty of the Mckenzie country and the descending sense of calmness. Oh and the cold. It was bloody cold. How I love that arctic jacket! Hey, look at the beauty behind me!
Here’s me with our driver and one of the guides, the very photogenic Byron, who seems to be coping well with the cold…
…as is the driver standing behind Michael:
Because NO white light is allowed (it interferes with the telescopic clarity), we’re each given a mini red solar-powered light to aid with visibility. The full moon tonight provides an unearthly silver shimmer across the lake and takes my breath away. We meet another Guide, Christian. Up here, nerds are the coolest guys in town – they’re fabulous guides with a great sense of humour. Their passion for Astronomy is all-consuming and I secretly envy their chosen isolation from the rest of the world. Their day begins at 4pm and goes through to 9am in the morning. In winter, it’s magical. Christian takes our group through to one of the telescopes, the lens of which cost 1 million dollars!
We’re taken to the actual control room and this is where Paul, the Astronomer, is first mentioned. The guides always refer to him as”Paul-the-Astronomer”. We’re getting quite curious about “Paul-the-Astronomer”, when suddenly this giant of a man appears out of the darkness and comes loping towards us. Luxurious brown hair flows past his shoulders and I think he’s wearing a beanie and leather boots. He resembles a young Ozzy Osbourne. “There’s Paul-the-Astronomer”, says Christian in reverential tones. The group is in awe. How cool is this guy!
In the café, we’re given an animated screen presentation showing how ancient civilisations identified the stars. We learn about the large and small clouds of Magellan, Globular clusters and the famous Jewel Box cluster. Looking around at these stars, trillions of light years away, I wonder if these men of science and logic ever have theological discussions when they look up at this vast solar system?
We’re treated to hot chocolate and what looks like a freshly baked brownie with cream. Then we step out again for some stargazing at the night sky through two different telescopes. We’ve been told by our driver that to minimise the white light, he’ll only use the parklights until we descend to the bottom of the hill. He’s anticipated that some folks may be nervous about this and we’re treated to soothing CD’s all relating to the moon and stars. Old ‘blue eyes’ has already flown to the moon, but his song will always remind me that I’ve just been with the coolest dudes in town.
Happy Travelling!
