Sydney Observatory

I took my partner here for a night of viewing stars and teenage groping in the dark.

It footed the bill, it was informative and he learnt so much about the stars above us in Sydney that he had no idea before. We saw the rings of Saturn and a cluster of stars.

Well worth a visit if you love star gazing, even more so if you don't own your own telescope, because the ones they have there kick it like no one's business.

This is a place for science geeks, or if you simply like looking at stars. They run tours at night when there is a clear sky they will fire up the telescopes so you can actually look at some stars and planets. You do have to book ahead though, which means that you need to keep you fingers crossed and hope and pray that the skies will be clear (if they aren't the light pollution from the city kills any chance of you seeing anything). I was really lucky that we did have a really nice day because our guide set the telescope up so we could look at Saturn, which I have to say was really weird because a part of me thought I was looking at a computer screen, when in reality I was looking directly at the planet. They also have a small museum of astronomy inside that you can go and have a look around (and I believe that is open during the day).

Really beautiful view of the Harbour bridge. Spot a wedding or two any day of the week. The observatory garden area is open free to the public
And there is lots of signage explaining the history of the area.

With headline views towards the Harbour Bridge Observatory Hill itself is a wonderful place to enjoy a picnic and watch the children rolling down the grass, as children do. The staff at the Observatory are very pleasant. Education is pitched at appropriate levels with cartoons explaining space to the little ones. Everybody should take the opportunity to search the skies. Perhaps you will find your special star.