Like many amateurs who live in the Northern Hemisphere, I spend a lot of nights with my telescope aimed low toward the south, whether observing at home in British Columbia, in the southern United States, in Mexico, or in the Caribbean. So spending the dark of the Moon in March 2001 at two dark Australian sites as a guest of the Astronomical Society of New South Wales (ASNSW) was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Here are notes on a few of my trip's highlights including the Eta Carinae Nebula, the Dark Doodad, and the Vela supernova remnant.