On Tuesday 25th April 2017, Marija VK5FMAZ and I headed down to the Tolderol Game Reserve VKFF-1752, which is located about 77 km south east of Adelaide, and about 11 km south east of Langhorne Creek. It was ANZAC Day and we had the opportunity of working with the special AX prefix. Each year, on just 3 occasions, Australian amateurs can replace the VK prefix with AX. And ANZAC Day is one of those.
Map showing the location of the Tolderol Game Reserve. Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
I have activated Tolderol once before, back in August 2016, and qualified the park on that occasion for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. But this was to be a unique park for Marija as an activator. For more information on my previous activation, please see my previous post at…..
https://vk5pas.org/2016/08/06/tolderol-game-reserve-vkff-1752/
Tolderol Game Reserve is 428 hectares (4.28 km2 ) in size. and is located on the north eastern side of Lake Alexandrina. It was established on the 1st January 1970 as an experimental area for growing of variety of waterfowl food crops, in particular three-cornered bulrush, with duck shooting permitted during open seasons. It consists of a series of man made open and shallow basins with connecting channels and levee banks.
Aerial shot showing the park in relation to my home QTH and the city of Adelaide. Image courtesy of Google maps
Tolderol is a well regarded bird watching location, although on our visit this time we did not see a lot of birds. The weather was quite poor at times, with very heavy showers, and I suspect this contributed to the lack of birds. It was also the wrong time of the year. The best time to make the most of bird watching opportunities is to visit the park in late spring and summer.
There is an excellent Tolderol Game Reserve Community Facebook page, which can be located at…..
https://www.facebook.com/tolderolgamereserve/
One of the down sides of visiting the park is that this is Tiger snake territory. Tiger snakes have an aggressive nature and toxic venom. The snake’s large size, often aggressive defence and toxic venom make it extremely dangerous to humans.
Fortunately, the only reptile we encountered during our visit, was the little fella below, a Shingleback lizard.
As we approached the park Marija and I logged from the mobile, Peter VK3PF/2 who was activating the Pilliger West State Conservation Area VKFF-1373. Peter had a strong 5/8 signal into the mobile.
The park is well sign posted from the Langhorne Creek Road. Follow Dog Lake Road, down through a few gates until you reach the park. Please ensure that you leave gates as you find them. So if they are closed, please close them behind you. We soon reached the western side of the reserve.
We followed the track down to the northern banks of Lake Alexandrina. There was a nice cleared area here, giving us plenty of room of vision if there were any snakes approaching us. And there was a concrete table and benches here.
We ran the usual equipment for this activation comprising the Yaesu FT-857d, 10 watts (for Marija) and 40 watts (for me), and the 80/40/20m linked dipole supported on the 7m heavy duty telescopic squid pole.
Aerial shot of the park showing our operating spot. Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
Prior to calling CQ both Marija and I logged Nick VK3ANL on 7.150, who was activating Reef Hills State Park VKFF-0773. I then moved down to 7.140 and called CQ which was answered by Greg VK2EXA, followed by Bill VK4FW and then VK6MB/4 who was in Bill’s shack. A mini pile up then ensued with a total of 24 stations logged from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 and VK7, before Marija and I swapped operator spots. Included in these contacts was a Park to Park with Gerard VK2IO who was mobile in Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park VKFF-0196.
Marija then called CQ which was answered by Ian VK3VIN, followed by Ken VK2KYO and then Adrian VK5FANA. All with good 5/9 signals. The 40m band appeared to be in very good condition. Contact number 10, qualifying the park for Marija for VKFF, was with Peter VK3ZPF.
It only took Marija 30 minutes to qualify the park for the global WWFF program, with contact number 44 being Allan VK3BF. It was great to see so many stations calling in, and many thanks to those that did. A number of those logged were using the AX prefix to help commemorate ANZAC Day. Included in the callers were a number of Park to Park contacts: Peter VK3PF/2 in the Pilliger West State Conservation Area VKFF-1373; Gerard VK2IO on SOTA peak VK2/ MN-047 in the Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park VKFF-0196; and Dave VK2ZK in the Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041. Marija and I swapped the mic to log the P2P callers.
Marija logged a total of 51 stations before I again jumped onto the mic, calling CQ on 7.140. I logged 20 further contacts from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK6 before heading up to 14.310 on the 20m band. First taker there was Rick VK4RF/VK4HA, followed by Mick AX6AY and then Hans VK6XN. I logged a further 5 stations from VK4 and VK6. Sadly no DX. Signals from Western Australia were generally strong.
I then headed to 21.244 where I called CQ for around 5 minutes, with sadly, no takers. The weather was starting to cloud over and the temperature had dropped significantly, with some strong winds off the lake. We could see the shower activity to the south of us, and I expected I may have had a 5 minute window before the rain hit us. So it was back to 40m where I worked Steve VK4QQ on 7.144. I was just in the middle of a QSO telling Steve that the weather was closing in, when it hit very quickly. We were caught in the rain and made a mad dash to pack up the gear and head to the comfort of the vehicle. I had a total of 57 contacts in the log.
Marija and I then went for a drive through the park whilst the rain cleared. There are a series of tracks through the reeds and along the levee banks. I was hoping to get some bird photos, but the weather was lousy, and activity was minimal.
As we drove down some of the tracks, we encountered some of the locals.
The rain had cleared and we decided to set up again. It was now just before 5.00 p.m. local time and I was hoping to log a little bit of North American DX on 40m. This time we set up at the information board and used one of the permapine posts as an anchor point for the squid pole, with the help of some trusty octopus straps. It was now very cool, and there was still the threat of some rain, so rather than setting up the table and deck chair again, I operated from the comfort of the driver’s seat of the Hi Lux. Although I have the Icom IC-7000 in the vehicle, I ran the Yaesu FT-857, propped up against the steering wheel and the dashboard.
I called CQ on 7.135 and this was answered by Paul AX3KHZ, followed by Rob VK2MZ and then Stephen VK3DQL. A few QSOs later I was called by Peter AX3HSB/p who advised he was bogged in the Alpine National Park VKFF-0619. I offered Peter whatever help I could, but he assured me that he had help on the way and would be ok.
I was pleased that we had set up again, as I had a very steady flow of callers from all across Australia and New Zealand. Kiwi callers included John ZL1API, Oliver ZL1XS, Gavin ZL1TBA, and James ZL3FV. The band was also wide open to the other side of the country, with a number of Western Australian stations logged includingRich AX6BEC, John VK6NU, Bert VK6/PA3EPA, and Daniel VK6WE. I also logged Peter VK3PF/2 who was portable in the Timallallie National Park VKFF-0609. Marija also logged Peter.
I then headed to the 80m band where I made a Park to Park contact with Peter VK3PF/2 in the Timallallie National Park VKFF-0609 on a second band. I moved up to 3.615 where I called CQ and logged 27 stations from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK7 and New Zealand. I was pleased to speak with Andrei ZL1TM in Auckland in the North Island of NZ.
I had a total of 121 contacts in the log and it was time to head home. Marija had also succesfully qualified the park, with a total of 55 contacts. Thankyou to everyone who called.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- AX3ANL/p (Reef Hills State Park VKFF-0773)
- VK3VIN
- VK2KYO
- VK5FANA
- VK7PRN
- VK2STO
- VK3ZMD
- VK3VEF
- VK3FLCS
- VK3ZPF
- VK2LX
- VK5KX
- VK5FFAU
- VK3UH
- VK3FRJD
- VK5JK
- VK1AT/3
- VK3GGG
- VK3PMG
- VK2NP
- VK3IRS
- VK2YW
- VK5QI
- VK7FOLK
- VK7DW
- AX5KC
- VK5KLV
- VK3FSPG
- VK3MPR
- AX7QP
- VK3SX
- VK4RF
- VK4HA
- VK5MAP
- VK5NAW
- VK7EV
- AX2LX
- VK3ELH
- AX5MAP
- VK3PF/2 (Pilliger West State Conservation Area VKFF-1373)
- VK2IO/p (SOTA VK2/ MN-047 &Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park VKFF-0196)
- VK2ZK/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
- VK2JDC/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
- VK3BF
- VK3AWT
- AX2HOT
- VK1RZ
- AX2LEE
- VK2LAD
- VK3ZD
- VK7VDL
- VK4FW
- VK3PF/2 (Timallallie National Park VKFF-0609)
- AX4DXA
Marija worked the following station on 80m SSB:-
- VK3PF/p (VKFF-0609)
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- AX3ANL/p (Reef Hills State Park VKFF-0773)
- VK2EXA
- VK4FW
- VK6MB/4
- VK3SIM
- VK5KLV
- VK3GGG
- VK3PMG
- VK3CWF
- VK3VIN
- VK3ARH
- VK2NP
- VK2YW
- VK3FOGY
- VK3KIM
- VK2KYO
- VK2QK
- VK2GAZ
- VK7DW
- VK5FANA
- VK2IO/m (Ghin-Doo-Ee National Park VKFF-0196)
- VK5JW
- VK3FLCS
- VK7PRN
- VK3PF/2 (Pilliger West State Conservation Area VKFF-1373)
- VK2IO/p (SOTA VK2/ MN-047 & VKFF-0196)
- VK2ZK/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
- VK2JDC/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
- VK1RZ
- VK1MTS
- VK3TKK/m
- VK3ZPF
- VK4PDX
- VK3PAT
- VK7DIK
- VK4FFAB
- VK3YX
- VK3YE
- VK3FSPG
- VK3MPR
- VK4TJ
- AX2HOT
- VK3FORD
- VK3UH
- VK4RF
- VK4HA
- VK7KW
- VK3HQZ
- VK4QQ
- AX3KHZ
- VK2MZ
- VK3DQL
- VK3KMH
- AX3HSB/p (Alpine National Park VKFF-0619)
- AX3HN
- VK3MCK
- AX3FRAB
- AX1FWBD
- AX2JDR
- VK4SMA
- VK3SOT
- VK3HK
- AX4DXA
- VK4NH
- VK2FJ/m
- VK5FRSM
- AX2LEE
- AX7ZGK
- AX6BEC
- VK5FAKV
- AX2LX
- VK6NU
- ZL1API
- VK7JON/m
- VK3PF/2 (Timallallie National Park VKFF-0609)
- VK7FOLK
- VK4CG
- VK7VZ/p
- ZL1XS
- VK6/PA3EPA
- VK2UMA
- ZL1TBA
- ZL3FV
- VK6WE
I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-
- VK3PF/p (Timallallie National Park VKFF-0609)
- VK7VZ/p
- VK3GGG
- VK3PMG
- VK7ALB
- AX7ALB
- VK5SFA
- VK5HS
- VK3FQSO
- VK4SMA
- VK5QI/m
- VK5KLV
- VK1DI
- VK2SR
- VK3YUN/m
- VK5FANA
- VK5FMWW
- VK5FAAT
- VK3HSB
- VK3FSLG
- VK3GK
- VK7JON
- VK3LBW
- VK2NP
- AX4ITT
- ZL1TM
- VK7MPR
- VK2PH
I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-
- VK4RF
- VK4HA
- AX6AY
- VK6XN
- VK6NU
- VK4ARW
- AX6RC/m
- AX4QQ
- AX4DXA
References
Australian Museum, 2017, <https://australianmuseum.net.au/tiger-snake>, viewed 28th April 2017
National Parks South Australia, 2017, <https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find-a-Park/Browse-by-region/Limestone-Coast/tolderol-game-reserve>, viewed 28th April 2017
Wikipedia, 2017, <>, viewed 28th April 2017
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