The 1999 Year End Star Party

They came in "drips and drabs" from all corners of Gauteng, braving storms, rain and hail, to meet at Tom Budge's farm in the hills of the lower Magaliesberg to party. 24 eventually arrived of which 4 left early as it started to rain quite strongly and the prospects looked bleak for any improvement in the weather. However, the true RPP spirit of amateur astronomers broke through: "Resilience, persistence and patience", and all those who stayed beyond 8pm were duly rewarded with clear skies and used Mary's "home built" 8" and Frans van Nieuwkerk's 3.5" Newtonian scopes to great effect, to observe Jupiter, Saturn, the Pleiades, Orion and several other objects and stars.

Chris Stewart, ably supported by his wife, made sure the braai fire started early and lasted well into the night, despite the rainy weather. John Scott dressed to a "T" in his yellow oilskins gave encouragement to Erica Ashford and her friend Renee, to consider building their own telescope in 2000. Sharon Tait (not Stone!) brought a whole bunch of friends about 2 hours after everyone else had arrived. They apparently got lost and got back on track after getting directions from a pub in the vicinity. (Now I have heard everything!).

Many envious eyes were cast into the interior of the main building where Zebra and wild animal skins cast over luxurious sofas and armchairs invited for relaxation in front of an open hearth fire. Unfortunately the whole place was locked and guarded by two vicious looking Dobermans who turned out to be docile and friendly.

The rainy part of the evening was spend in an almost completed chalet with "open door" ablution facilities. Many a tale was spun and glass was downed whilst devouring large chunks of various meats and lengthy pieces of boerewors, deliciously braaied over bushveld wood. Some attempts were made on pointing out to the unsuspecting the nearby infamous Vlakplaats prison and "torture" centre which had received many months of attention from the TRC hearings. Soon however when the skies cleared we moved onto an open lawn, the telescopes were set up and the viewing solicited many an "Oh" and an "Ah' from the visitors and members alike.

From about 11h00 people started to leave the scene, finding their way down the precarious mountain pass back to civilisation.

A word of appreciation to Tom for letting us use his facilities ( albeit not all of it ) for free. Next time we hope you'll join us for an ASSA star or other party.

Wolf Lange