After leaving the Lake Hawdon South Conservation Park, Marija and I headed down to the town of Beachport, about 47 km south of Robe.  As we travelled along Clay Wells Road on our way to the Southern Ports Highway we spoke to Ian VK1DI/p from the mobile.  Ian was activating the Cuumbeun Nature Reserve VKFF-1920 and had a strong 5/8 signal into the mobile.

We travelled south on the Southern Ports Highway and then took a short detour off the highway to have a look at the Woakwine Cutting.  This said to be Australia’s largest one man engineering feat.  The cutting was excavated to drain land behind the Woakwine Range.  During the 1880’s the McCourt family moved into the Woakwine area.  It was soon realised that without richer land to compliment the rocky high country, making a living on the land would be difficult.  In 1957 Murray McCourt commenced the construction of a channel from the swamp through the range to Lake George with a view fo draining a large swamp on his property.

There is a display of machines used to make the cutting and a viewing platform, but this was closed.  I had to drive down the road and then make my way through the scrub to get a view of the cutting.  It is an amazing piece of engineering.

Below is a video which gives you a good idea of this amazing feat.

We soon reached Beachport, a small town of around 880 people.  The town was named on 23 May 1878 for the then British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn.  Beachport has a large crayfishing fleet, and is known for its 772-metre (2,533 ft)-long jetty.

We stopped off first to have a look at the Beachport Customs House which was used between 1879-1900.  It was originally located at the railway yards and was used to record incoming and outgoing goods.  Following Federation, the buidling was used as a railway office for goods and for men who travelled down in front of the train on a trolley to ensure that the tracks were clear.  Men would sleep overnight in the buidling and return back ahead of the train the following day.

We then drove along the Scenic Road in Beachport taking in some of the great views of the lighthouse, the town itself and the surrounding coastline.

There was plenty of activity down on the beach by 4WD enthusiasts.

We decided to do a very quick activation of the Beachport Conservation Park 5CP-014 & VKFF-0791, but from the vehicle.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Beachport Conservation Park.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

Beachport Conservation park is about  875 hectares (1.160 acres) in size and was established on 1st January 1959.  The conservation park was originally created as a reserve in 1959, declared as a National Park in 1959 and was re-proclaimed as a conservation park under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 for the purpose of setting ‘aside to preserve and protect a representative sample of the coastal environment of south east South Australia.’

We travelled along a sandy track at the end of Scenic Way and found a small clearing off the side of the track.  We didn’t want to venture too far, as the sand was very boggy and I didn’t plan on spending an hour or two digging our way out.

Above:- Map of the Beachport Conservation Park showing our operating spot.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

I called CQ on 7.135 and this was answered by Hans VK5YX/2 who was in the Kosciuszko National Park VKFF-0269.  It was relatively slow going from the vehicle, with signals being a bit down with my mobile antenna compared to the linked dipole.  But within about 13 minutes I had contact number 10 in the log, with a QSO with Bill VK4FW/p who was activating the Reinke Scrub Conservation Park VKFF-1634.  Marija also logged Bill.

I worked a further 4 stations before heading down to 80m very quickly where I logged my good mate Ivan VK5HS, who was booming in from the Riverland region of South Australia.  Marija also logged Ivan.

Marija worked the following station on 40m SSB:-

1. VK4FW/p (Reinke Scrub Conservation Park VKFF-1634)

Marija worked the following station on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5HS

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5YX/2 (Kosciuszko National Park VKFF-0269)
2. VK3PF
3. VK5KLV
4. VK4TJ
5. VK4/AC8WN
6. VK4/VE6XT
7. VK4FDJL
8. VK2IO
9. VK1DI
10. VK4FW/p (Reinke Scrub Conservation Park VKFF-1634)
11. VK4PDX
12. VK2LEE
13. VK2GPT
14. VK2VX

I worked the following station on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5HS

We then drove back into Robe and out along the Lake George Road and back into the Beachport Conservation Park.  This part of the park is suitable for conventional vehicles.

We stopped briefly to have a look at Wooley Waterhole.  Native birds including Superb Fairy Wrens, Red-browned finches and Yellow-rumped Thornbills depend on this waterhole for fresh water.  It is beieved the waterhole was dug during the late 1800’s.  I captured a shot of a Grey Fantail at the waterhole.

I also caught these two Silvereyes heading down for a drink.

We then stopped to have a look at the memorial plaque in the park which recognises the old Robe to Beachport track, which was once used by mail coaches and travelleres passing through what is now known as Wooley Lake.  The waters of the lake often quenched the thirst of horses and travelleres, but today only the waterhole remains fresh.

We then took a short detour off road to have a look at Lake George.  It was bone dry during our visit, but each year high tides and fresh water run off into drains that fill the lake.  During these periods you can often see windsurfers on the lake and people swimming.  But not during our visit.

We headed back in to Beachport and headed to the local hotel for a feed and a few cold beverages.  It was a great meal.

On our way back to Robe we stopped off to have a look at the memorial for two Able Seaman, W.L.E. Danswan and T.W. Todd who lost their lives on the beach at Beachport when a German mine they were destroying exploded on 14th July 1941.  These men were the first casualties due to enemy action on Australian soil during World War Two.  There is also a memorial here to all fishermen who have died in the Beachport area.

It was the end of another great day, with an amazing sunset.  This is certainly a very beautiful part of South Australia.

References.

Wattle Range Council, 2018, <http://www.wattlerange.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=2341>, viewed 15th March 2018

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beachport>, viewed 15th March 2018

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beachport_Conservation_Park>, viewed 15th March 2018

Our second park for Sunday 11th March 2018 was the Lake Hawdon South Conservation Park 5CP-110 & VKFF-1045.  The park is located about 12 km east of the town of Robe and about 388 km south east of the city of Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Lake Hawdon South Conservation Park.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

The Lake Hawdon Conservation Park was gazetted in February 2010 and is about 3,190 hectares in size.  The park is part of the Lake Hawdon System Important Bird Area, which comprises an area of 374 square kilometres covering a series of five coastal lakes: Lake Hawdon, Lake Robe, Lake Eliza, Lae St Clair, and Lake George.

Above:- An aerial shot of the Lake Hawdon South Conservation Park.  Image courtesy of google maps.

The wetland system was identified by BirdLife International as an IBA because it regularly supports over 1% of the world populations of red-necked stint, and often of sharp-tailed sandpipers, double-banded plovers and banded stilts. It also provides habitat for orange-bellied parrots, Australasian bitterns, rufous bristlebirds and striated fieldwrens.

Above:- Orange-bellied parrot.  Image courtesy of eikipedia

Lake Hawdon is an ephemeral wetland, meaning it lasts for a very short time.  It is typified by seasonal brackish swamps surrounded by cleared grazing land.  It contains large expanses of sedgelands which are of high conservation value as there are no comparable areas of sedgeland remaining in the South East of South Australia.

The park is home to a number of native animals including the Western Grey Kangaroo, the Swamp Rat, and the Swamp Antechinus.  The now extinct Toolache Wallaby is believed to have previously been found at Lake Hawdon South.  They were once widespread through south eastern South Australia and south western Victoria.  A combination of numerous threats caused the decline and eventual extinction of the toolache wallaby. One of the largest factors was the destruction of its habitat.  Very sad indeed.

Above:- the now extinct Toolache Wallaby.  Image courtesy of wikipedia.

On our way to the park we worked Peter VK3TKK/p who was portable in the Timor Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2211.  Peter was an excellent 5/9 into the mobile.

Lake Hawdon South was one park that we were concerned about access.  A study of maps the previous night had not shown any obvious access points, except perhaps off the Old Narracoorte Road.  Peter VK3PF had previously activated this park and had activate the park from the point we were looking at, off the Old Narracoorte Road.

So after leaving the Woakwine Conservation Park, Marija and I drove east on the Old Narracoorte Road and within a few km we reached the northern boundary of the park.  There were no signs for the park, but we were relying on mapping in the vehicle.  Maps show a road in the north western corner of the park, but that did not exist in reality.  So we continued east, passed the Lake Hawdon Connecting Drain, and on to the north eastern corner of the park.

In amongst the scrub we found a little clearing which lead to an unlocked farmers gate.  Just to the right of this was another set of gates which lead to the park.  The second set of gates were old and rickety and were tied together with some old rope.

The small clearing leading to the farmers gate

The farmers gate

The set of gates leading to the park

We parked the vehicle and climbed over the second set of gates into the park.  There is a fenceline following the road side of the park and an area between the fence and the road, and some breaks in the fence.  But, the grass here was very long and as it was a hot day we weren’t keen to walk through the long grass.  So climbing the fence appeared to be the best option.

Above:- A map showing the Law Hawdon Conservation Park, and our operating spot in the northern section of the park.  Map courtesy of Protected Planet.

We walked about 50 metres down a cleared area along the fenceline and set up the fold up table and deck chair hard up against a small shrub, hoping to get some shade from the hot afternoon sun.

I kicked off the activation by calling CQ on 7.155.  This was answered by Peter VK5ZPG at Quorn in the north of South Australia.  Peter was running QRP 5 watts and was an excellent 5/8 to Lake Hawdon.  This was followed by Karl VK2GKA, Ken VK3UH, and then Gerard VK2IO.  Contact number 10 came ten minutes into the activation with a contact with Colin VK3LO.

After logging 11 contacts and qualifying the park for the VKFF program, I lowered the power on the Yaesu FT-857d down to 10 watts, and Marija jumped into the operators chair.  Her first contact was with Peter VK3PF/p who was activating the Wonthaggi Heathlands Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2235, followed by Peter VK3ZPF, and then Stef VK5HSX/3 in the Mount Alexander Regional Park VKFF-0973.  Dennis VK2HHA also called, and this was followed by another two Park to Park contacts with Nick VK3ANL/p who was in the Ironbark Road Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2113, and then Les VK5KLV/p in the The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park 5CP-228 & VKFF-0817.

Marija logged a total of 14 stations and had the park under her belt for the VKFF program.  I then jumped back on the mic hoping to get my 44 contacts to qualify the park for the WWFF global program.  First in the log was Peter VK5KPR/p  in the The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park 5CP-228 & VKFF-0817, followed by Stef  VK5HSX/3 in the Mount Alexander Regional Park VKFF-0973.

I logged a further 34 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6, and VK7.  This included 5 further Park to Park contacts:

• VK4AAC/1 (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
• VK1DI/p (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
• VK3FMPB/p (Kinglake National Park VKFF-0264)
• VK3TKK/p (Wehla Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2226)
• VK6MB/p (Midgergoroo National Park VKFF-0650)

Contact number 44 was a QSO with John VK4TJ in Queensland.

I then put out a few calls on 80m and I was really pleased to get John VK5BJE and Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG in the log.  Conditions were quite good on 80m but sadly as is often the case there weren’t too many callers.

To finish off the activation I called CQ on 14.310 on the 20m band and logged Mike VK6MB/p in the Midgergoroo National Park VKFF-0650 who had a strong 5/9 signal.  And then Hans VK6XN who was 5/9 plus.  But sadly they were my only takers on that band.

It was now just after 3.30 p.m. local time and we decided to pack up and go for a drive to Beachport for a look around.  Between us, Marija and I had 73 contact in the log from Lake Hawdon South, including 19 Park to Park contacts.

Marija  worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF/p (Wonthaggi Heathlands Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2235)
2. VK3ZPF
3. VK5HSX/m
4. VK2HHA
5. VK3ANL/p (Ironbark Road Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2113)
6. VK5KLV/p (The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park 5CP-228 & VKFF-0817)
7. VK2EXA
8. VK3LO
9. VK3AW
10. VK4FFAB
11. VK3SQ
12. VK4NH
13. VK4DXA
14. ZL4TY/VK4
15. VK5KPR/p  (The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park 5CP-228 & VKFF-0817)
16. VK5HSX/3 (Mount Alexander Regional Park VKFF-0973)
17. VK4AAC/1 (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
18. VK1DI/p (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
19. VK5ZPG
20. VK3TKK/p (Wehla Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2226)

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5ZPG
2. VK2GKA/p
3. VK3UH
4. VK2IO
5. VK2NP
6. VK3DAC
7. VK2HHA
8. VK3EXA
9. VK4FDJL
10. VK3LO
11. VK5FANA
12. VK3PF/p (Wonthaggi Heathlands Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2235)
13. VK3ANL/p (Ironbark Road Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2113)
14. VK5KLV/p (The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park 5CP-228 & VKFF-0817)
15. VK5KPR/p  (The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park 5CP-228 & VKFF-0817)
16. VK5HSX/3 (Mount Alexander Regional Park VKFF-0973)
17. VK3BBB
18. VK3AHR
19. VK3SQ
20. VK3ARH
21. VK2PKT
22. VK4AAC/1 (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
23. VK1DI/p (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
24. VK4NH
25. VK4DXA
26. ZL4TY/VK4
27. VK7DON
28. VK2VW
29. VK2LEE
30. VK3ZMD
31. VK3FMPB/p (Kinglake National Park VKFF-0264)
32. VK5FMWW
33. VK7ME
34. VK3GB
35. VK2NEO
36. VK2YK
37. VK3RU
38. VK3FSPG
39. VK3MPR
40. VK3ZE
41. VK3TKK/p (Wehla Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2226)
42. VK6MB/p (Midgergoroo National Park VKFF-0650)
43. VK3FMKE
44. VK4TJ
45. VK3ZIP
46. VK5PL
47. VK1LAJ
48. VK3AB/p

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5BJE
2. VK3GGG/p
3. VK3PMG/p

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK6MB/p (Midgergoroo National Park VKFF-0650)
2. VK6XN

References.

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Hawdon_System_Important_Bird_Area>, viewed 15th March 2018.

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolache_wallaby>, viewed 15th March 2018