There are moments during the 50-minute drive from Bathurst to Trunkey Creek (population 100, and a bit) that we wonder exactly where we’re headed.
asserted
we → be → Creek
Then as the road becomes gravel and the corrugations shake us to the core, the last six kilometres definitely feel like a road to nowhere.
asserted
kilometres → become → road
But that’s precisely the point of Starscape, our accommodation for the weekend.
asserted
that → ’ → weekend
As the sign on the entry gate says, it’s “Somewhere Nowhere”
asserted
it → say → gate
Once on the 40-hectare property, we drive across a grassy ridge where kangaroos graze.
asserted
kangaroos → drive → ridge
It’s only as we pull into the hilltop parking space and gaze down the slope that we spy our retreat, Astra, tucked discreetly into the rolling landscape with little other sign of human habitation.
asserted
we → ’ → habitation
Loading a thoughtfully provided trolley with our supplies, we head down the track as a herd of skittish deer makes a hasty retreat and sunset casts a soft pink glow on clouds gathering on the horizon.
asserted
sunset → load → horizon
Relaxation comes instantaneously.
asserted
Relaxation → come → ?
As the slow-combustion fire starts to crackle, we eye off the sunken outdoor bathtub, an infrared barrel sauna and a fire pit, all offering the promise of staving off the winter chill.
asserted
all → start → chill
Breaking out mandatory cheese and wine, we retreat to the property’s unique selling point – a transparent dome designed for admiring the heavens, with a sofa bed, rugs and fairy lighting to elevate the ambience.
asserted
we → break → ambience
But as darkness engulfs the horizon, it’s clear the elements won’t be co-operating.
asserted
elements → engulf → horizon
Heavy cloud cover foils our very reason for venturing across the Great Dividing Range – the prospect of unsurpassed stargazing.
asserted
cover → foil → stargazing
From our earliest years, we are taught through song and story that the twinkling lights in the heavens are a thing of wonder, celestial bodies to wish and dream upon and ponder the mysteries of life.
asserted
lights → teach → life
But for many city dwellers, those diamonds in the sky are losing their lustre, with 80 per cent of the world’s population affected by light pollution, and the Milky Way now only visible to one-third of humanity.
asserted
Way → lose → humanity
Beyond our cities, however, Australia is blessed with truly dark, clear skies, and savvy rural tourism operators are discovering they have a world-class asset not available in urban centres – the wonders of the night sky.
asserted
they → bless → sky
Starscape’s secluded location has earned it one of the highest dark-sky ratings – two on the Bortle Scale, the global standard for measuring darkness and light pollution.
asserted
location → earn → darkness
What we’re gazing at are some of the most pristine skies in the world; on a clear winter’s night, the Milky Way would be at its most glorious, enhanced by Starscape’s enormous 90-millimetre refractor telescope.
asserted
Way → gaze → telescope
Through its scope, even beginners like us would be able to view the Moon in stunning detail as well as Saturn’s rings, the moons of Jupiter and nebulae like the Orion Nebula, situated north of Orion’s Belt.
asserted
beginners → view → Belt
But while the Moon – which tonight is full, so already hampering stargazing opportunities – slips in and out behind clouds, it’s largely a wet and miserable night, forcing us to find recreation indoors.
asserted
it → hamper → recreation
Flicking through a selection of vinyl, we croon to Elvis and Frank Sinatra, break out several board games and have some quiet time reading in the comfy window nook.
asserted
we → flick → nook
The following morning, after a breakfast of eggs and avocado followed by an online yoga session in the cabin’s dedicated wellness space – replete with gurgling water feature – we head out to explore the back roads of Bathurst, where every bend reveals stories behind quaint gold rush villages, historic homes and classic Aussie pubs.
asserted
bend → follow → villages
Our ramblings lead to the villages of Blayney and heritage-listed Millthorpe, arguably the prettiest town in NSW, where we browse antique stores and warm up over hot chocolate before returning to the glorious isolation of our rural retreat.
asserted
we → lead → retreat
Sadly, with the rain set in, the wonders of the cosmos still elude us; but during the night, I wander onto the verandah and gaze at the landscape, ghostly in the shrouded moonlight.
asserted
I → set → moonlight
With the dome glowing like a lunar capsule, it’s a captivating, surreal sight and a reminder that nature has more than one magic trick up its sleeve.
asserted
nature → glow → sleeve
DETAILS
Starscape is a dark-sky retreat built around “the philosophy of the art of doing nothing”.
asserted
Starscape → build → nothing
Some pantry staples are supplied, guests must otherwise take their own provisions.
asserted
guests → supply → provisions
Pets permitted.
asserted
Pets → permit → ?
The writer travelled as a guest of Starscape.
asserted
writer → travel → Starscape
The Aporia
