由 David » 2011-09-25, 22:26
I've been reading some travel books today. Although Chile is remote and much more expensive compared with Australia, there are plenty of scenic places to go to as well during daytime (e.g. Salt lake, a crater, geysers, lunar valley and death valley). There are also a few observatories nearby. All these daytime activities can easily kill one week if we do them leisurely (like one per day).
I also suggest we have a second stop at Easter Island for a couple of days to see those famous rocks as well as a big crater. If we are really dedicated, we can have a third stop to see glacier at southern Chile. This part is completely non-astronomical but, hey, it is a once in a lifetime thing whereas Australian trips can be done more regularly as you said.If you are thinking about having a big dobs somewhere in Southern Hemisphere, of course Chile is not the place.
So I am thinking of Chile mostly because of all the scenic places, plus a bit of visit to observatories, and finally almost certain sunny weather. But of course we need 3-4 people going to make this happen. The moon age is suitable in July 2012 after the HKDSE exam release. May be some of the astrocafers would be interested?
Speaking of weather, even in Coonabarabran, we only had 1 perfect night out of 3, and frankly there isn't much to do during daytime. If I have poor weather there next time, I'd be extremely bored. For Australia, I'll consider Perth or Alice Spring next time as I always consider other tourist attractions (which mainly mean scenic areas for me) to be as important as stargazing.
Willis and Xiaoer probably appreciate the importance of other tourist attraction and sunny weather after their Tibet trip in July.
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