My last activation of the day was the Yulti Conservation Park, which is located about 3 km south east of the town of Myponga.

After my activation at Nixon Skinner CP, I drove back into Myponga, and then along James Track and onto Springmount Road, and then onto Trigg Point Road.  But I was really struggling to find access to the park.  My maps showed Cooper Road leading to the southern side of the park.  But in reality, the spot where Cooper Road was showing on the GPS was a farmer’s paddock.  Fortunately when I doubled back to that location, a farmer came along in his tractor, and I had a chat with him.  He was a sharefarmer with not much local knowledge, so I obtained his boss’s phone number and I called him.  After some friendly help and directions, I travelled back towards Myponga along James Track, and I then turned right into Yulte Road.  Yulte Road will take you up to the park entrance which is part of the Heysen trail.

Yulti Conservation Park is 41 hectares in size and is a small preserve of habitat representative of the central Fleurieu Peninsula.  The park consists of steep, hilly terrain vegetated with open forest of Eucalyptus Baxteri and other vegetation in the valleys.  There is also scrub / heath on the ridges and the understorey is typically a dense heath dominated by various plants including the Casuarina species, with Banksia Ornata confined to the ridges.  Panoramic views of the surrounding valley and range country can be seen from the high sections of the walk following a section of the Heysen Trail.

Yulti Conservation Park is recorded in various sources with various spellings.  Even the Government authorities seem unsure of the spelling.  The DEWNR website records the spelling as Yulte, and yet the sign in the park shows the spelling to be Yulti.  The road leading to the park is spelt as Yulte.  Unfortunately I have not been able to find out the meaning of Yulte or Yulti.

The track leading up to the park was quite rough with plenty of large rocks and numerous washaways, so I drove as far as I could, and then I walked the remainder of the way.  Fortunately only a short distance of about 100 metres.

Numerous bird species are found in the park including the Beautiful Firetail finch which has a rump of bright red.  My father used to breed these when I was a child.  Western Grey Kangaroos are also common in the park.

I strapped the 7 metre squid pole to a Heysen trail sign and ran out the legs of the 40m/20m linked dipole.  I made myself comfortable and tuned to 7.100 and there was my faithful ‘Hunter’, Col VK5HCF waiting for me.  This was followed by another staunch VK5 Parks supporter, Larry VK5LY.  My third contact was with Tim VK5AV, who has also become a recent active Parks Hunter.  Colin VK3UBY and his wife Sandra who are also big supporters of the VK5 Parks Award, also called in to say hello.

Conditions on 40m were very variable.  And sadly I wasn’t getting a lot of takers, so I tuned across the band and came across Grant VK3HP and a group of gents on 7.095.  This included Peter VK3YE who was operating QRP 2 watts, on a beach in Melbourne (5/3 both ways).

After 45 minutes of operating, I had managed 14 QSO’s on 40m SSB into VK2, VK3, & VK5.

The following stations were worked:-

Col VK5HCF; Larry VK5LY; Tim VK5AV; Allen VK3HRA; Peter VK3PF; Grant VK3HP; Ian VK3VIN; Peter VK3YE/p; Scott VK7NWT; Greg VK2FGJW/p; Colin VK3UBY; Sandra VK3LSC; Frank VK3GFS; and Ron VK5MRE.

My next activation of the day was the Nixon Skinner Conservation Park, which is situated about 5 km south of Myponga, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, and about 60 km south of Adelaide.

From Stipiturus CP, I travelled along Pages Flat Road, and into the beautiful little town of Myponga which is the hub of lush grazing and dairy country.  The name derived from the Aboriginal word maippunga meaning locality of high cliffs.  Myponga was the venue for the first Australian performance by leading British heavy rock group Black Sabbath during the Myponga Music festival in 1971.  Prior to this festival the town’s leading claim to fame was the 1953 discovery of a uranium ore deposit at Wild Dog Hill.  Myponga is also the home of the Smiling Samoyed Brewery which is a small unique brewery.  As I drove passed the brewery it was very tempting to drop in.  The day was warm, about 30 deg C, so a schooner of ale would have been nice.  But I travelled south out of Myponga along Main South Road for about 5 km until I reached Nixon Skinner CP, which is on the western side of the road.

The Nixon Skinner CP comprises of 8 hectares of native vegetation, and is situated towards the southern end of the Myponga Reservoir.  The park is set off the road, so the sign is only visible once you take a small access road off the western side of Main South Road.

In 1956 Mrs. Lucy Eleanor Page, a long standing and active member of the Field Naturalists Society of South Australia, donated the land.  The park was named in honour of her grandfathers and was the first privately donated reserve to be established in South Australia for the preservation in perpetuity of native plants and animals and for the enjoyment of nature lovers.

I set up about 20 metres inside the park boundary, and used the western boundary fence to secure the squid pole.  I placed the Yaesu FT-817nd up on top of a nearby permapine post and tuned to 40m.  My first contact was with Col VK5HCF who is a staunch supporter of the VK5 Parks Award.

During my time in the park I worked two more SOTA stations.  The first was Tony VK3CAT who was portable on Talbot Peak, VK3/ VT-010.  And my second QSO was with Glenn VK3YY who was portable on Mount Useful, VK3/ VT-016.

After the activation, I went for a walk through the park and enjoyed the picturesque views of the Myponga Reservoir, which is fed by the Myponga River and other rivers in the Myponga Catchment Area.  It provides about 5 % of Adelaide’s water supply and is the main source of filtered water for southern metropolitan Adelaide and the south coast area.  There is a nice bitumised track to walk along from Main South Road, down to the reservoir.

After an hour in the park I had 16 contacts in the log from VK1, VK3 & VK5 on 40m SSB.

The following stations were worked:-

Col VK5HCF; Tony VK3CAT/p (SOTA); Glenn VK3YY/p (SOTA); Larry VK5LY; Tim VK5AV; ALlen VK3HRA; Peter VK3PF; David VK5NQP; Ian VK5IS; Bernard VK3AMB; Greg VK3HBM; Peter VK3TKK; Duncan VK3XBC/1; Ben VK3FTRC; Barry VK3BJM/m; and Barry VK5BW.

On Saturday morning 13th October, 2013, I headed out to activate 3 parks on the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide.  The next day on Sunday I had a commitment at the Port Elliot show with an amateur radio display, so I booked in overnight at the Middleton Caravan Park so I didn’t have to journey back home to the Adelaide Hills.

My first activation was the Stipiturus Conservation Park which consists of 68.13 hectares and is situated about 50 kilometres south of Adelaide and six kilometres west-south-west of the nearest town, Mount Compass.

Purchased with support funding from the Natural Heritage Trust and Nature Foundation Inc, the park was proclaimed on 14 December 2006 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, without access under State mining legislation.

Stipiturus Conservation Park protects a high conservation value wet heath/sedgeland peat bog ecosystem, known as Glenshera Swamp (the largest remaining peat swamp on the Fleurieu Peninsula), with over 64% of native plants in and around the swamp having regional and/or state conservation ratings.  The park contributes to the conservation of the first registered nationally threatened ecosystem found solely in South Australia, the ‘Swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula’, and is home to one of the largest known swamp-based population of the nationally endangered Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus intermedius), after which the park was named.

Less than one percent of the permanent wetlands of the Mount Lofty Ranges still remain.  These wetlands once covered much of the Myponga and Mt Compass area, but are now cleared and drained for grazing.  Hence, in 2003 the swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula were listed by the Australian Government as a critically endangered ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Stipiturus Conservation Park protects the largest remaining intact peat swamp ecosystem on the Fleurieu Peninsula, which provides habitat for the largest swamp-based population of the nationally endangered Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus intermedius).

Over 65 species of birds have been recorded in the park, four of which are of conservation significance, including the Mount Lofty Ranges Southern Emu-wren.  These are a little insectivorous bird which are relatively poor fliers that tend to hop, flutter, and scramble their way through their habitat.  At least two native mammals inhabit the park including the Southern Brown Bandicoot and the Western Grey Kangaroo.

I drove from home out through Echunga and Meadows and then along the Brookman Road towards Willunga.  I then took Pages Flat Road heading towards Myponga, and turned left into Apple Grove Road and then Saffrons Road.  I accessed the park on its southern side, off Saffrons Road.  The park is well sign posted with a locked gate.

There is a track leading through the scrub down to the swamp area.  The track in parts conveniently runs north – south, so I decided that was the spot where I would set up.  Certainly the scrub was way too thick to extend the squid pole and it was a warm day and I did not fancy sitting in amongst the scrub with the ‘Joe Blakes’ (snakes).  During the morning my only unwelcome visitors fortunately were some very big ants.  I used a fallen gum tree limb to secure the squid pole with some octopus straps.

Although I didn’t see any of the little Southern Emu wrens, I did see a variety of other birds including Superb Blue Wrens, Red Wattlebirds, and Adelaide Rosellas.

My first QSO in the park was with Ben VK3FTRV who was running just 5 watts (5/4 both ways).  This was followed by Terry VK3UP who was portable at Lorne and running just 4.5 watts (5/3 both ways).  I managed three Summits on the Air (SOTA) contacts whilst in the park.  The first SOTA contact was with Glenn VK3YY who was portable on Mount Selma, VK3/ VT-013.  I then spoke with Ed VK2JI who was portable on Mount Elliot VK2/ HU-093.  And my third SOTA contact was with Mark VK3PI who was portable on Mount St Leonard, VK3/ VC-006.

Conditions on 40m SSB were not all that great, but after an hour of sitting in the park I had 15 contacts in the notebook from VK2, VK3, & VK5.

The following stations were worked:-

Ben VK3FTRV/qrp; Terry VK3UP/qrp; Ron VK3AFW; Tim VK5AV; Nick VK3ANL; Glenn VK3YY/p (SOTA); Peter VK3PF/qrp; Ed VK2JI/p (SOTA); Fred VK3JM; Col VK5HCF; Peter VK3ZPF; Allen VK3HRA; Shaun VK5FAKV; Larry VK5LY; Mark VK3PI/p (SOTA).