docbud - the flies came back with vengeance this weekend. It hit 99 Saturday...thanks to east and northeast winds. These winds bring the heat, flies and pollen (my allergies are nasty). As for the stars, I doubt that we'll see anything like it again. It's become even more of a rarity with way cities are growing nowadays. Thanks for writing! Cheers! Chris

Oh--you are so right about the stars you can see there in the outback. One can see so them all. Maybe I'm exaggerating but I'd say that one in the outback can see a thousand times as many stars in the sky than we see here in the city of Syracuse (or any city for that matter). I used to just drive out about 5 miles out of Woomera and just drink a few cold ones and look up in awe.

Chris--I know all too well the flies in the outback. Those things will cling to you and you can swat all you want, but they just stay on you. Nothing more aggravating than sweating our butt off and those things are all over you and you can't get rid of 'em. Great pic, by the way. How come you had to have a special permit or whatever for it to share?