New Year’s Eve Night Tour

Cloudy Nights

In the event of cloudy or rainy weather, we will still conduct our Night Sky Tour, which includes a captivating astronomical presentation and a guided tour of our facility, where you can discover the rich 120-year history of Perth Observatory. Should the sky clear up enough for us to begin or continue stargazing through the telescopes, we will happily do so.

If you don’t get to see a minimum of 4 objects through telescopes, the Night Sky Tours will be declared a cloudy night, and you’ll be emailed a 50% discount code for a future tour. When attending that future tour, the ticket holder may postpone to an alternative date if cloudy conditions are forecast. That way, once you’ve done the two Night Tours, it works out to roughly be the same price as a Guided Day Tour and a Night Tour.

We understand that unexpected circumstances may arise, and we allow for bookings to be transferred to another date up to 24 hours before your scheduled tour. However, we do make exceptions for situations such as a death in the family, illness, or plane delays.

We only cancel our Night Sky Tours in the event of a bushfire close by, loss of power to the Observatory, and the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a Severe Weather Warning for the Perth Metropolitan region, including the Perth Hills/Bickley area, during the scheduled tour time or within 6 hours prior to the tour start time. In such a case, we will notify you promptly by phone call and/or email. You will then be given the option to receive a full refund or transfer your booking to an alternative tour date or time.

If you would like to reschedule your tour due to anticipated inclement weather, please contact us via phone at 08 9293 8255, email at info@perthobservatory.com.au or even send us a message through our Facebook page up until the day before your scheduled tour.

Please be aware that if you have booked your tour using a cloudy night coupon code received from a previous tour that was cancelled due to cloudy or rainy weather, you may get in touch with us on the day of your tour.

General Tour Info

Here’s some helpful information to make your visit smooth and enjoyable.

🌙 Arrival Time

We recommend arriving around 15 minutes before the start of the tour, so you have time to explore our museum and AstroShop before the tour begins.

When you arrive, please check in with the host at the front desk. We’ll mark you off our booking list using the name under which your booking was made.

🚗 We Recommend You Drive

Please note that, due to the nature of astronomy, the Observatory is located away from the city lights of Perth and Kalamunda in the beautiful Bickley Valley. For this reason, we strongly recommend driving. We offer free on-site parking for all visitors.

If you don’t have access to a car, consider hiring one for the day and making the most of your time in the Perth Hills. You can explore local attractions, walks, wineries and events via the Experience Perth Hills website to help plan your visit.

Taxis and rideshare services can be unreliable in the Perth Hills, particularly late in the evening. If you choose to use these services, we strongly recommend pre-booking both your trip to and from the Observatory. To reduce costs, you may wish to catch the train to High Wycombe Station and arrange a taxi or rideshare from there. Transperth’s Journey Planner can help you find the best train service.

While there are public buses to Kalamunda, there is no bus service from Kalamunda to the Observatory. The last bus departing Kalamunda is at 10:14 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, and services may finish earlier on long weekends. Please note that our Night Sky Tours typically conclude between 10 pm and 10:30 pm from October to March.

🧥 What to Wear

While most of our telescopes are housed inside domes, you’ll spend some time outdoors. It can get surprisingly chilly in the hills, even in summer, so please bring a warm jacket (or a towel for Hitchhiker’s Guide fans!) and wear comfortable walking shoes.

There’s a short 100-metre walk from the main building to the telescope area, and the paths are unpaved in places.

👧 Young Children

Our tours are best suited for stargazers aged 5 and up. By this age, most children can follow instructions to look through a telescope and really enjoy the night sky. Younger children may find it tricky to stay awake or keep warm for the full tour, so we want to ensure your visit ends with big smiles, not tired tears!

Some of our larger telescopes require a small step platform, so please ensure children are always supervised by an adult.

🚭 Smoking

We’re located in a state forest, so to protect our environment and heritage buildings, smoking is strictly prohibited anywhere on the Observatory grounds.

🛏️ Stay Overnight

Make it a weekend getaway! We recommend Rose Bridge House, a lovely bed and breakfast just 15 minutes from the Observatory.

🦘 Drive Carefully – Kangaroos About!

Please drive the last few kilometres up to the Observatory 10 km below the speed limit, kangaroos are active at dusk and can jump out unexpectedly.

Concession Ticket Definition

Concession* is defined as one of the following:

• Current and former defence and emergency personnel
• WA Seniors Card holders
• Seniors and Australian Health Care Card Holders who hold one of the following:
  • Blue Government Card or White Senior Card
  • Pension Card
  • Repatriation Health Card (Gold)
  • Health Care Card specifying reason as “age”
  • Veterans Affairs Card
  • For overseas seniors, Proof of Age Cards or Passport showing age as +65 years old
• Students
  • Any Australian student card with a valid sticker or date – student must be studying in Australia
• WA Parks Foundation members

Wheelchairs Accessibility

Please note that step or platform ladders may be required to access the eyepieces of some of our telescopes. While we do offer a pantograph telescope for individuals in wheelchairs, please keep in mind that this telescope requires a range of head and upper body movement to use, and positioning the wheelchair with precision in the dark may be necessary.

If you or someone in your group requires the use of the pantograph telescope, please indicate this in the notes field when booking your tour, and we will ensure that it is prepared and available for use on the night.

If you plan on having dinner before your tour, there are several great dining options in the area. In Gooseberry Hill, Embers Restaurant offers a delightful experience, while Lesmurdie boasts the Village Pizza Kitchen and Buns & Co. For a wider selection of dining options, Kalamunda is the largest town in the Perth Hills and offers a diverse range of restaurants including:

• The Vault
• Kishi Bar
• Taco Maria
• Kandel Pan And Grill
• Kalamunda Tap House
• Kalamunda Hotel
• The Best Drop