Thanks. It is amazing out west. I have spent a bit of time inland shooting astrophotography. Hope to spend some more time 4WD touring out their next year. That said the areas around Sydney have super clear skys as long as your looking away from the coast as it is mostly national park (its actually on some measures the largest temperate forested wilderness area in the world ). It is also sandstone country and the dirt is very sandy so the wind does not pick up dust which can be a problem out west. Our property is surrounded by national park in almost every direction for quite some way and people are surprised how dark the skys are there. There was a public observatory near us the (Koolang Astronomical Observatory) but it has since been privatized and not open to the public anymore.