Holidays (Part 3)

Friday came and we decided we had to make a day of it.  It was a nice day out, blue skies and warm, so we decided to go and visit the observatory.

In the morning we went off to the Mount Stromlo Observatory just outside of Canberra.   It was badly affected by the bush fires back in 2003 but they have renovated some of the place and left other areas as it was but made safe, as a memorial to the old observatory.  They have also changed what the site is now about because Canberra has become too large and has too much light pollution for it to be a working observatory anymore.

The views from the summit were stunning because the weather was so very good.  There are multiple buildings and telescopes on the summit, so there is plenty of opportunity to walk around and have a good look all around at the views and the telescopes.

Most of the place the photos talk for it.

On a hill with a good view on a good day
From the car park it does not look that interesting!
Sometimes you just can’t get a wheelchair to the view
Off-roading is something I will leave to Stuart’s feet for the moment!
Enthusiasm…
These signs are all around a walkway around the top of the hill. They provide a wealth of information about the place.

 

No 2. Eyes on the Skies

 

No 3 An Observatory is Born

 

No 4 The Future of Mount Stromlo Observatory (after the fires of 2003 devastated the observatory)

 

 

No 5 The Director’s Residence

 

No 6 A Home on the Hill

 

No 7 The Other Lives of Mount Stromlo

 

The home of the director

 

Stuart took this picture because we were not able to get the wheelchair to quite a few locations and this was one of them.  It is a map of the Moon.
Another good view!

 

Stuart spotted this signpost as we were leaving the summit of Mount Stromlo. He decided that this means “Warning The cyclist in front has broken wind”…. I can’t take him anywhere!

Leaving Mouth Stromlo Observatory we still had several hours to spare so decided to visit the NASA Deep Space Communication Complex that wasn’t that much further down the road.

The drive there was a typical uneven road but with stunning scenery (on a good day which we had).  As you approached the area, we started to feel like we were either on Dartmoor or on the Yorkshire Moors.  It is hard not to compare places to areas you know!

The top of the hill in front looks like a tor to us

 

Our first port of call, as always was the Café.  In this case the Moon Rock Café.  David would much appreciate it because there was a dedicated area for cleaning of motorcycle helmets!

A dedicated motorcycle helmet visor cleaning area

Stuart also had a long conversation with the café owners about Dr Brian Cox, a musician (in a band called D’Ream & Dare), Physicist and Professor of Particle Physics & now a TV & Radio presenter from Oldham.  He was at the DSCC presenting a program about the Life of the Universe.  There was a signed photo on the wall with a message about the chips at the café being very good…

Information on the Space Patches

 

I love this Dreamtime. It is absolutely huge and completely fascinating with so much information about the sky and stars in it.

 

Looking around the site was actually really fascinating and we managed to spend the entire afternoon there and I know that I didn’t get chance to look around everything and would like to go back.

Oh and Mum, Stuart’s birthday card still hasn’t arrived.  What address did you put on it?