On Saturday afternoon, 15th June, 2013, on my way back to Whyalla I stopped in at the Wharminda Conservation Park.  I had intended to activate my 11th SOTA summit that afternoon, but the weather on the southern Eyre Peninsula was very poor, so unfortunately I had to cancel the hike.

Wharminda Conservation Park is situated on the Eyre Peninsula, a few kms from the little railway siding of Wharminda.  It is about 42 kms south west of the seaside town of Arno Bay.

I travelled north out of Wharminda and access the park on its northern side.  The roads throughout the area here are all dirt.  And they were in quite poor condition after all the rain we had received over the week.  So at times it was a bit of a challenge with the Falcon XR6.

The park is located in close proximity to the much larger Hincks Conservation Park, but I could not get there because of the road conditions.  Wharminda CP which was proclaimed in 1985, consists of about 269 hectares of mallee and shrubland.

The park supports a large variety of fauna including Western Grey kangaroos, Hopping Mice, and Dunnarts.  Numerous bird species are also found including emus, Fairy wrens, mallee fowl, and a variety of parrots.

I set up the dipole and unfolded my deck chair and enjoyed the sunshine.  My first contact within the park was with Ian VK5CZ who was portable on Mount Nadjuri, VK5/ NE-058.  I then spoke with Ernie VK3DET who was portable on VK3/ VS-050.

I then set up on 7.099 and called CQ and was ‘Hunted’ by some of the usual suspects including John VK5FTCT, John VK5BJE, Roy VK5NRG, Btriran VK5FMID, Col VK5HCF, and Peter VK3PF.  Peter VK3PF advised that by working me, he had just tipped over the 20 point mark, qualifying him for the Silver Award for the VK5 Parks Award.

I also spoke with Steve VK5AIM who was portable in the Sandy Creek Conservation Park, as part of the VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award.  Steve had a very nice signal (5/8 both ways).

After placing the unlucky number of 13 QSO’s in the log, I packed up the gear and headed north to Whyalla, which was still about 200 kms away.

The following stations were worked:- Ian VK5CZ/p (SOTA); Ernie VK3DET/p (SOTA); John VK5FTCT; John VK5BJE; Steve VK5AIM/p (Sandy Ck CP); Roy VK5NRG; Brian VK5FMID; Col VK5HCF; Peter VK3PF; John VK5FMJC; David VK5LSB; David VK5UG; and Mal VK5MJ/m.