PRE-CRUISE DAY 4: SATURDAY, APRIL 15 — PARKES OBSERVATORY:
9am – 1pm

This morning we head up the Newell Highway to Australia Telescope National Facility, Parkes Observatory: The Dish. While we can't enter the observatory building itself, we’ll receive exclusive briefings on the radio astronomy work executed with the 64 meter parabolic dish, and learn about Parkes’ role in the Apollo 11 moonlanding, and other Apollo missions. Punctuated by the rumbling and whine that signals the movement of the dish, we’ll wrap up our visit with lunch at The Dish Cafe (Elvis recommends the scones) and memorable photo ops.

After lunch it’s onward to Coonabarabran, Astronomy Capital of Australia. With luck, we’ll see emus, and with a lot of luck, we may spy kangaroos and koalas in the landscape. 5pm-ish we’ll check in to our classic country motel, and unwind over a poolside barbeque. After dinner, we’ll go to a local commercial observatory, and beneath a canopy of stars, tour the southern sky with a Siding Spring pro-am astronomer.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided.

THE DAY’S ITINERARY

• Wake up in Parkes hotel
• Breakfast, 7am
• Check-out/leave hotel at 8:30am
• Arrive Parkes Observatory 9am
• Lunch at Parkes, Noon to 1pm
• Leave Parkes, 1:15pm
• Arrive hotel in Coonabarabran at 4:30pm
• BBQ dinner at Coonabarabran hotel (Matthew Flinders), 5pm
• Depart hotel 7:30pm for nighttime observing
• Night-time Southern sky observing at 8pm (weather permitting)
• Back at hotel (Matthew Flinders) in Coonabarabran at 10pm
• Spend night in Coonabarabran hotel (Matthew Flinders)