Actually, the Barracks sleep-in is directed at school students, not adults, and yes, they do have a ghost - after all, they were a convict, not a military barracks. Sydney Observatory also does special sleep-over nights. They were the first museum in Australia to do so. CAMP-INS AT SYDNEY OBSERVATORY These have been running successfully over a number of years (approximately 6 years). They are geared for students attending secondary school. They are run twice a year, in the summer and winter school holidays with 20 students attending each camp-in. At times if the demand is great then two are run per holiday. The aim of these camp-ins is for the students to have as much access to the telescopes as possible. The program varies whether it is winter or summer, and naturally we have a cloudy/wet weather alternative. The students arrive at about 1800 and leave the next day at 0900. On arrival they have orientation time and settling in. We do several activities including making a planisphere, a planetarium session, showing and accessing up-to-date images on the Internet, using our astronomical computer programs, using both the refracting and reflecting telescopes. The reflecting telescope is computer driven and many celestial objects can be found using this. Food and drink are provided including dinner, supper, fruit, nibbles and breakfast. The students place their personal belongings including their sleeping bags in various areas of the observatory. They have the choice after midnight: to work with the computer driven telescope and do viewing, to watch "astronomy related" videos, or to sleep. The cost for the camp-in is $50 or $45 if the parent is a concession card holder. The camp-in is quite staff intensive as a lot of the work is conducted in small groups under supervision. Two or three staff are present all night with casual guide lecturers coming in to do the specialist work. There has been one adult overnight conducted, "Long Day's Journey into Night". The time spent at the observatory was shorter, dinner was not provided and less supervision was needed. This was a very successful event and will be repeated. The cost was $30. Heleanor Feltham Sydney Mint Museum & Jeanie Kitchener Sydney observatory [log in to unmask] ---------- From: daemon To: MUSEUM-L Subject: Re: Camp-ins--the haunted house idea Date: Thursday, 24 October 1996 9:02AM I wonder if the Old Melbourne Gaol does camp-ins, as it would be a MOST spooky place to spend the night, especially with the actual gallows at one end of the gallery, all the death masks in the various cells on the ground floor, one of Ned Kelly's suits of armour, etc., - and the staff are firmly convinced that it IS haunted. An interesting overnight experience can be found at Sydney, NSW's Hyde Park Barracks, the old convict barracks which is one of the oldest buildings in Australia. It is directed at adults, who spend a night in a hammock in one of the old dormitories, where they are locked in for the night, fed a typical convict/settler's breakfast the next morning and then marched down to the harbour for a sail round the harbour. If ever a building ought to be haunted, it's this one! It's operated by NSW Historic Houses Trust, which operates a number of other fascinating properties and museums in the state. Harry Needham Canadian War Museum