My third and final planned park activation for the day was the Bandon Conservation Park 5CP-263 & VKFF-099  which is located about 16 km east of the town of Copeville and about 130 km east of the city of Adelaide. 

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

The park is about 700 hectares in size and was proclaimed on the 22nd August 2013.  It is named after the The Hundred of Bandon in which it is located.  The Hundred of Bandon was named after the birthplace in Ireland of Sir George Strickland Kingston (1807-1880), engineer and politician who emigrated to Australia in the 1830’s.

Above:- Sir George Strickland Kingston.  Image courtesy of wikipedia.

The park comprises of typical mallee country and is surrounded by cleared land for farming.

Above:- Aerial shot showing the Bandon Conservation Park and the surrounding countryside.  Image courtesy of google maps

I found the mallee vegetation in Bandon to be a little lower in height compared to Ettrick and Lowan.  The soil here was very sandy, which made it a lot easier for me to drive the squid pole holder into the ground.

The park is a little piece of remnant mallee in the area which otherwise has been cleared for farming.  The photo below shows the park boundary, with the scrub to the right, and the stark contrast of the cleared cropping land to the left.

It was still pretty warm so most of the birds in the park were no doubt seeking the shade.  But I did spot these Crested Pigeons.

To get to the park from Lowan I travelled east on Gribble Bore Road onto Rosenzweig Road and then turned left onto Perponda Road.  I stopped briefly in Perponda.  Don’t blink as you will miss Perponda, which consists of just a house or two and an old hall.  Perponda was proclaimed on 1st May 1919, and is a corruption of the Aboriginal word  ‘peraparna’ meaning  ‘rain water’.  There is a small memorial plaque here for the Perponda School which opened in 1924 and closed in 1942.

My next brief stop was a little further up the road at Kalyan, which was proclaimed on the 10th August 1933.  Kalyan is anAboriginal word meaning ‘you stop here’.  The Kalyan School opened in 1922 and closed in 1952.  There is a small memorial plaque here for the old school.

As it was a warm day there were quite a few Sleepy Lizards out on the road enjoying the sunshine.  Fortunately I did not see any snakes.

Signage out here I found to be very poor.  Many of the signs had faded and the place names and road names were very hard to see.

I turned right onto Walshs Bore Road from the Perponda Road and then continued east on Kadie Bore Road.

Above: an example of the faded signs

I soon reached the north western corner of the park.  The park is not signposted.  Well I certainly could not find a park name signpost.  There was a sandy 4WD track following the western boundary of the park but I continued along Kadie Bore Road and followed a sandy track on the eastern side of the park for a few hundred metres off the road.  I set up underneath the shade of a tree.  

Above:- Aerial shot of the Bandon Conservation Park showing my operating spot in the north eastern corner.  Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

I headed to 7.144 on the 40m band and called CQ.  Geoff VK3SQ in Beechworth answered my call, followed by Peter VK3PF, Dennis VK2HHA, and then Jim VK1AT.  The 40m band had really opened up nicely, with no fading detected and most signals being nice and strong.  Within 6 minutes I had qualifed the park for VKFF, with 10 contacts in the log.  Contact number ten being a QSO with Cliff VK2NP.

The band was quite busy, and was just opening up to Europe, so I experienced quite a bit of interference.  I was hoping to hear Yves ON8ON in Belgium who was activating a park, but sadly this was not to be.

I logged 40 stations on 40m before heading off to 20m hoping to get some European long path action.  I ended up logging a total of 11 stations on 20m including two DX contacts: Gianluca IK4LZH in Italy, and Max IK1GPG in Italy.

To finish off the activation I put out a few CQ calls on 3.160 on the 80m band.  I logged 5 stations there, from VK3 and VK5.  Again, despite band conditions on 80m being quite good, there were not a lot of callers there.

It was now just after 4.00 p.m. local time and I decided to pack up and head home.  I had a total of 56 contacts in the log at Bandon, and a unique park for me under my belt as an activator for WWFF/VKFF and the VK5 Parks Award.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SQ
2. VK3PF
3. VK2HHA
4. VK1AT
5. VK2EXA
6. VK3AHR
7. VK3FRAB
8. VK4TJ
9. VK3ZPF
10. VK2NP
11. VK3ZMD
12. VK3RW
13. VK2PKT
14. VK3TKK/m
15. VK3BBB
16. VK4NH
17. VK4DXA
18. ZL4TY/VK4
19. VK3YB
20. VK3KMH
21. VK2LEE
22. VK3UP
23. VK5KLV
24. VK4FDJL
25. VK3KTO
26. VK4HNS
27. VK3KKP/2
28. VK2FF
29. VK1DI
30. VK2KYO
31. VK2YW
32. VK4AAC/2
33. VK3VVC
34. VK7JON
35. VK7FOLK
36. VK3FMKE
37. VK2NEO
38. VK3FLES
39. VK4SMA
40. VK3KMA

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4SMA
2. VK4TJ
3. VK4/AC8WN
4. VK4/VE6XT
5. VK4NH
6. VK4DXA
7. ZL4TY/VK4
8. VK6GLX
9. IK4LZH
10. VK3SX
11. IK1GPG

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5FMAZ
2. VK3ZPF
3. VK3SQ
4. VK5FANA
5. VK5BJE

Following the activation I decided to take a different route home, along the Karoonda Highway.  I stopped briefly in Karoonda, which is an aboriginal word meaning ‘winter camp.  The town is located in the centre of the Murray Mallee region of South Australia.  The town has a population of around 600 people and was founded on wheat growing in the early 1900’s but is also well known for Merino sheep production.

There is a memorial in town for Constable Harold Pannell who was shot and killed on duty back in March 1957.  Pannell had attended a property to serve a warrant on John Fischer for the seizure of property after Fischer had failed to pay damages awarded against him in a court case.

I also had a brief look at Karoonda Pioneer park which has a very interesting collection of old buidlings, railcars, and other memorabillia.

After leaving Karoonda I worked Brett VK3FLCS/p on 40m.  Brett was activating the Tooborac Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2212, and had a good signal into the mobile.

I continued on my journey back home, arriving home just after tea.  Along the way I enjoyed a magnificent sunset.  I had a terrific day, with three parks activated and a total of 178 QSOs.  THANKS to everyone who called, and a big THANKS to those who took the time to spot me on parksnpeaks, Facebook, etc, as I had virtually no internet coverage all day.

References.

Cockburn; R, 2002, ‘South Australia.  What’s in a Name?”

Monument Australia, 2018, <https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/crime/display/50966-senior-constable-harold-rae-pannell> viewed 3rd April 2018

State Library South Australia, 2018, <http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/digitalpubs/placenamesofsouthaustralia/>, viewed 3rd April 2018

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandon_Conservation_Park>, viewed 3rd April 2018

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoonda,_South_Australia>, viewed 3rd April 2018

My second park of the day was the Lowan Conservation Park 5CP-121 & VKFF-1052 which is located about 20 km north west of the town of Karoonda and about 151 km from Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Lowan Conservation Park in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

Lowan’s total area is about 675 hectares and consists of Hundred of Bowhill – Sections 71 and 73.  The park was purchased on the recommendation of the Land Board and National Parks Council recommendation.  The then private owners of the land were anxious to see scrub remain on the block.  Section 71 was proclaimed on 9th September 1971 as Lowan National Park.  It became Lowan Conservation Park on 27th April 1972.  Section 73 was added on 2nd August 1973.

ABove:- Aerial shot of the Lowan Conservation Park (in the foreground) and the surrounding countryside.  Image courtesy of google maps.

Vegetation habitats within the park include

• Tall open scrubland with Mallee Honey-myrtle (Melaleuca acuminata), Dryland Tea-tree (M. lanceolata), Red Mallee (Eucalyptus socialis) and Narrow-leaved Mallee (E. leptophylla)
• Very open mallee with Ridge-fruited Mallee (Eucalyptus incrassata) and Dune Tea-tree (Leptospermum coriaceum)

There have been a total of 88 species of native bird recorded in the park by Birds SA.  This includes Common Bronzewing, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, White-eared Honeyeater, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Weebill, White-winged Chough, Striped Honeyeater, Yellow Thornbill, Chestnut Quailthrush, Gilbert’s Whistler, Magpielark, andSouthern Scrub Robin.

Also located in the park is the Malleefowl, also known as Lowan.  It is from this bird that the park takes its name.

It only took me a short time to get to Lowan from Ettrick.  I travelled along Glenbur Road and turned right onto Piggy Flat Road and then left onto the Bowhill Road.  I then turned right onto Gribble Bore Road.   There is an old windmill and stone water tank on the corner, so it’s not hard to miss this corner.  There is also a plaque here to commemorate the sealing of the Bowhill Road.

I soon reached the north western corner of the park.   A little further along Gribble Bore Road there is an unlocked gate and a 4WD track which takes you into the park.

Above:- the gate and track leading into the park.

I drove a few hundred metres down the track and found a clearing in the scrub.  The day had really warmed up and it was now approaching 30 deg C, so I chose the shade of some trees for my operating spot.  I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, at 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation.

Above:- Aerial shot of the Lowan Conservation Park, showing my operating spot.  Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

First in the log again was Peter VK3PF with a strong 5/9 signal, followed by Dave VK2RP/m with a great signal coming out of his mobile station.  I had ten contacts in the log within 9 minutes, that being a QSO with regular park hunter Keith VK2PKT who was roaring in with a 5/9 plus from Parkes in New South Wales.

The 40m band was still a little unstable, with considerable amounts of fading (QSB) on most signals.  But there were still plenty of park hunters lining up to get Lowan in their logs.

Park to Park activity had been scarce during the day, despite it being a public holiday.  This was in contrast with Easter Sunday, when there had been a huge amount of park activity.  Sadly I was working that day.  But 17 contacts into the activation, and I had a few Park to Park contacts.  These being with John VK3CU/p and Victoria VK3LO/p who were in the Jilpanger Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2118 in western Victoria.  I’m glad I worked them when I did, with 5/9 plus signals, as 10 minutes later when I had a listen their signals had dropped right down.

About two dozen QSOs later I was called by Peter VK2KNV/p who was in the Lachlan Valley Regional Park VKFF-1784.

I logged a total of 52 stations on 40m before things slowed down a little, which was fortuative, as I had been told Sue VK5AYL was up on 7.155 in a park.  So I headed there and logged Sue who was activating the Clements Gap Conservation Park VKFF-0812.  Sue was roaring in with a 5/9 plus signal.  This was Sue’s first ‘solo’ park activation.  And while on the topic of Sue, can I remind everyone of Sue’s excellent parksnpeaks app.  The ParksnPeaks app allows (Australian & NZ) amateur radio operators to alert, spot and chase portable radio activity.

I then moved back to 7.144 and called CQ again.  This was answered by Les VK3FLES, followed by Mark VK3FBOM.  This was Mark’s first every contact on HF.  I explained to Mark all about the park’s programs, and he seemed very keen.  Hopefully we will hear Mark out and about one day soon.

I logged a further 4 stations on 40m from VK3 and VK5, before lowering the squid pole and removing the links in the linked dipole.  I headed to 14.310 on the 20 band and found Rob VK4SYD/p in the Hays Inlet Conservation Park VKFF-1555.  Rob had a strong 5/9 signal from Queensland.

I then moved up to 14.315 and was called by Peter VK3PF who kindly spotted me on parksnpeaks, as I had no internet coverage from the park.  I logged a further 4 calls on 20m, before heading off to 3.610 on the 80m band where I logged just the one station, Wolf VK5WF in Adelaide who was 5/9.

It was now a little after 1.30 p.m., so I packed up and headed off to my third and final park of the day, the Bandon Conservation Park.  I had a total of 66 contacts in the log at Lowan.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK2RP/m
3. VK2BDR/m
4. VK3SQ
5. VK3AHR
6. VK3BBB
7. VK2LEE
8. VK4HNS
9. VK3FRAB
10. VK2PKT
11. VK2HHA
12. VK3FLES/m
13. VK2NP
14. VK2FADV/4
15. VK3FMKE
16. VK2IO
17. VK3CU/p (Jilpanger Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2118)
18. VK3LT/p (Jilpanger Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2118)
19. VK4NH
20. VK4DXA
21. ZL4TY/VK4
22. VK1AT
23. VK3UCD
24. VK4TJ
25. VK4/AC8WN
26. VK4/VE6XT
27. VK3LBT
28. VK3BCM
29. VK3FIAN
30. VK3ARH
31. VK3ZGC
32. VK4AAC/2
33. VK5KLV
34. VK2NEO
35. VK3TKK/m
36. VK3YSA
37. VK3HOT
38. VK7JPN
39. VK3WAR
40. VK4FDJL
41. VK2KNV/p (Lachlan Valley Regional Park VKFF-1784)
42. VK2EXA
43. VK7AN
44. VK3YB
45. VK5FMAZ
46. VK2KYO
47. VK3TP
48. VK7RN
49. VK5BJE
50. VK5HS
51. VK3CWF
52. VK2SR
53. VK5AYL/p (Clements Gap Conservation Park VKFF-0812)
54. VK3FLES
55. VK3FBOM
56. VK5WF
57. VK5PL
58. VK5KLD
59. VK3VIN

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4SYD/p (Hays Inlet Conservation Park VKFF-1555)
2. VK3PF
3. VK4TJ
4. VK4NH
5. VK4DXA
6. ZL4TY/VK4

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5WF

References.

Birds SA, 2018, <https://birdssa.asn.au/location/lowan-conservation-park/>, viewed 3rd April 2018

Foulkes, J.N. & Gillen, J.S. 2000, ‘A Biological Survey of the Murray Mallee South Australia’.

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowan_Conservation_Park>, viewed 3rd April 2018

Yesterday, Easter Monday (2nd April 2018), Marija went out for lunch with a girlfriend, so I headed out into the field to activate three Mallee parks.  Two of these, Ettrick & Lowan, I had activated before for both WWFF and the VK5 Parks Award.  But Bandon Conservation Park was to be a first for me.  I had a bit of a drive ahead.  In fact during the day I covered a distance of around 286 km.

Above:- Map showing my route for the day.  Map courtesy of plotaroute.com

My first park for the day was the Ettrick Conservation Park 5CP-267 & VKFF-1029 which is located about 35 km north east of the town of Murray Bridge and about 112 km east of the city of Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Ettrick Conservation Park.  Map courtest of Location SA Map Viewer.

The park is 479 hectares in size and was gazetted on the 31st October 2013.  It is named after the Hundred of Ettrick, which was proclaimed on 4th May 1893.  It was named by Governor Kintore who hailed from Scotland where there is a ‘Parish of Ettrick’ in Selkirk, derived from the Gaelic eadar-dha-eas – ‘between two waterfalls’.  There are certainly no waterfalls out here at Ettrick.  It is typical harsh mallee country.  There is also a place called Ettrick in the Mid North of South Australia, near Riverton.

Ninth Earl of Kintore, Governor Kintore.  Image courtesy of adb.anu.edu.au

The park is a piece of remnant mallee which is surrounded by cleared farming land.  The park is located in relatively close proximity to the mighty Murray River (which can be seen in the image below, to the right of the picture).

Above:- Aerial shot showing the Ettrick Conservation Park in the foreground.  Image courtesy of google maps.

The park consists mostly of Low Very Open Woodland with Mallee Box with Dryland Tea-tree.  It is also home to one of the few remaining examples of tussock grassland in this particular part of the Murray-Darling Basin.

More than 65 species of bird have been recorded in the park by Birds SA.  This includes Mallee Ringneck, Galah, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Spotted Pardalote, White-browed Babbler, White-winged Chough, Peaceful Dove, Purple-backed Fairywren, Splendid Fairywren, Grey Butcherbird, Black-faced Cuckooshrike, and Gilbert’s Whistler.

During my visit to the park I took the photos below of a Whistling Kite and also a Brown Falcon.  The Falcon, he/she was kind enough to sit up in the tree long enough for me to take a few shots.

After leaving Murray Bridge I took the Burdett Road and then turned right onto the Bowhill Road.  About 4 km up the road I turned left onto Boundary Road.   The western boundary of the park soon came into view.  There is a lot of other scrub surrounding and adjacent to the park.  I wonder whether one day this will be incorporated into Ettrick.

I headed to Glenburr Road and found an entry into the park.  I drove a short distance along the track and found a clearing in the scrub and set up.

Above:- Aerial shot of the Ettrick Conservation Park.  Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

After setting up I put our a call on 7.144 to see if the frequency was in use.  A few voices came back to me to advise the frequency was clear.  One of the those was Peter VK3PF with a strong 5/9 signal.  I then logged Ron VK3AHR, followed by Geoff VK3SQ and then Neil VK4HNS.  Contact number 10, qualifying the park for me for the VKFF program, was a a QSO with Hans VK6XN in Western Australia.  This came ten minutes into the activation.

I was then called by VK3VG who asked if I wouldn’t mind moving frequency as the Old Timers broadcast was about to commence on 7.146.  So I moved down to 7.140 where I logged Jern VK2KJJ, Graeme VK3PGK, John VK4TJ, and then Keith VK2PKT.

Band conditions on 40m were average, with quite a bit of fading (QSB) on most signals.  However it was pleasing to have a steady flow of callers from all across Australia.  My 44th contact, qualifying the park for the global WWFF program, came with a QSO with Jarrad VK3BL, about 50 minutes into the activation.

I logged a total of 47 stations on 40m, before lowering the squid pole and removing the links and then heading to 14.310 on the 20m band.  Unfortunately I had no internet coverage so I was unable to self spot on parksnpeaks.  I called CQ and this was answered by Russell VK4ARW, followed by Stuie VK8NSB in Darwin who had a strong 5/9 signal, and then Mark VK4SMA.  John VK4TJ followed, and then Snow VK4ME.  But despite 5 minutes more of CQ calls, I had no further takers.

John VK4TJ told me that Liz VK2XSE was in a park and was on 7.170.  So it was down with the squid pole and back in with the links, and off to 40m.  I logged Liz VK2XSE/p who was in the Lachlan Valley Regional Park VKFF-1784.  Liz had a strong 5/8 signal and reciprocated with a 5/8 for me.

I then lowered the squid pole again and inserted the links for the 80m band.  I had just enough coverage on the mobile to give Marija a quick call, and she became contact number 1 on 80m.  David VK5HYZ then called in, followed by John VK5BJE.  Despite band conditions being very good on 80m around South Australia, I had no further callers.

To complete the activation I put up the 1/2 wave 15m dipole and put out a few calls on 21.244, but had no takers.

It was time to pack up and head off to my second park, the Lowan Conservation Park.  I had a total of 56 contacts in the log.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB before the UTC rollover:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3AHR
3. VK3SQ
4. VK4HNS
5. VK2NEO
6. VK3UCD
7. VK4FDJL
8. VK3NBL
9. VK1TX
10. VK6XN
11. VK3VG
12. VK2KJJ
13. VK3PGK
14. VK4TJ
15. VK2PKT
16. VK4AAC/2
17. VK2IO
18. VK2HHA
19. VK7AN
20. VK5FMAZ

I worked the following stations on 40m after the UTC rollover:-

1. VK2FAD
2. VK3FSPG
3. VK3MPR
4. VK2NP
5. VK5BJE
6. VK3SQ
7. VK5IS
8. VK3ARH
9. VK4HNS
10. VK1HW
11. VK2KYO
12. VK3TKK/m
13. VK4NH
14. VK4DXA
15. ZL4TY/VK4
16. VK5KLV
17. VK4AAC/2
18. VK4AAV
19. VK2KNV/m
20. VK2XSE/m
21. VK3NLK/2
22. VK2IO
23. VK3AOF
24. VK3BL
25. VK2EJW
26. VK3PF
27. VK3KMA
28. VK2XSE/p (Lachlan Valley Regional Park VKFF-1784)

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4ARW
2. VK8NSB
3. VK4SMA
4. VK4TJ
5. VK4ME

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5FMAZ
2. VK5HYZ
3. VK5BJE

References.

Birds SA, 2018, <https://birdssa.asn.au/location/ettrick-conservation-park/>, viewed 3rd April 2018

Murray Valley Standard newspaper, 2018, <http://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/1966160/ettrick-conservation-park-proclaimed/>, viewed 3rd April 2018

State Library of South Australia, 2018, <http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/digitalpubs/placenamesofsouthaustralia/>, viewed 3rd April 2018