After leaving Bronzewing we travelled south on the Sunraysia Highway, through the little town of Tempy, and then on to Speed.  Our destination was the Wyperfeld National Park VKFF-0549 which is situated about 436 km north west of Melbourne.

The town of Speed was named after William, Harold and Gordon Speed, who settled in the district in 1903. Settlement by the Speed brothers coincided with the opening of the railway line and the opening up of the Mallee lands for farm selection. The Speed township was surveyed in 1910.  Speed is the venue of the Mallee Machinery Field Days.  Speed was once notable for the roadsigns on the highway each side of the town reading “WELCOME TO SPEED” but these have been replaced with council signs “Welcome to Speed – Where Time Ticks Faster.”  In January 2011, the residents of Speed started a safety campaign to get the name of the town to be renamed “SpeedKills” to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding. By mid-February 2011 the Facebook campaign had exceeded the designated 32,000 “likes” required to rename the town “SpeedKills”.  The outcome was to rename the town for one month.

We then took the Patchewollock-Sea Lake Road and soon reached the town of Patchewollock.  There is a sign in the town indicating that Wyperfeld is located to the west of the town.  And at the western end of the town there is an information board about the Wyperfeld National Park.

We travelled out of Patchewollock on the Baring Road, and then the Pine Plains Road.  About 25 km out of Patchewollock we reached the park, which was well signposted.

We headed south on the Meridian Track, heading for the Casuarina campground.  The Meridian Track is dirt/gravel, and was in very good condition.  It is easily passable in a conventional vehicle.

The Wyperfeld National Park is a large park, being 3,570 km² in size.  It is the third largest National Park in Victoria.  The history of national park reservation in the Mallee dates back to 20 October 1909, when the first part of Wyperfeld (38.9 km2 ) was temporarily reserved as a site for a national park.  Following the initial reservation in 1909, permanent reservation and subsequent additions were made in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. The Park increased from 565 km2 to 1000 km2 in 1979, to 3237 km2 in 1991 and to 3568 km2 in 1992.

The park is part of the Wyperfeld, Big Desert and Ngarkat Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International, due to its importance for the conservation of Malle Fowl and other species of mallee birds.

We set up in the Casuarina campgound.

There was only one other vehicle in the campground, so we had plenty of choices for operating.

I used the special call of VI100PEACE for this activation.

To kick off the activation, Marija and I logged Rob VK4HAT/VI4PEACE who was activating the Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053.  Next was Bill VK3CWF/p who was in the Brisbane Ranges National Park VKFF-0055.  And our third contact was another Park to Park, with Gerard VK2IO/p in the Brisbane Water National Park VKFF-0056.

Marija then called CQ on 7.139 and this was answered by Alan VK3ALN/p at Rye, followed by Marc VK3OHM, and then Ray VK4NH.  Marija’s 10th contact was a QSO with Keith VK2PKT.  Marija logged a total of 15 stations before I jumped into the operator’s seat.

I worked a total of 35 stations on 40m from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK7, and New Zealand.  This included a Park to Park with Peter VK3PF/p who was activating the Tarra Bulga National Park VKFF-0480.

I then moved to 14.183 on the 20m band and joined the ANZA DX Net, where I logged 6 stations from VK3, VK4, VK8, and New Zealand.

I then moved back to 40m and logged a further 10 stations from VK1, VK2, VK4, VK5, and VK7, including a Park to Park with Andy VK5LA who was in the Ridley Conservation Park VKFF-0932.

To conclude the activation I tried my luck on 3.610 on the 80m band.  Unfortunately we had no internet coverage, so we were unable to place a post on parksnpeaks.  So I was very pleased when Hans VK5YX gave me a shout on 80, with an excvellent 5/9 signal.

Marija had qualified the park for VKFF with 15 contacts.  I had qualified the park as VI100PEACE for VKFF and WWFF with a total of 56 contacts.

It was time to pack up and hit the road, as we had a 3 hour trip to get home.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VI4PEACE (Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053)
2. VK3CWF/p (Brisbane Ranges National Park VKFF-0055)
3. VK2IO/p (Brisbane Water National Park VKFF-0056)
4. VK3ALN/p
5. VK3OHM
6. Vk4NH
7. VK4DXA
8. ZL4TY/VK4
9. VK7FRJG
10. VK2PKT
11. VK2FPAR
12. VK2HRX
13. VK3DOU
14. VK2KT
15. VK3MRO/m

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB as VI100PEACE:-

1. VI4PEACE (Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053)
2. VK4HAT (Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053)
3. VK3CWF/p (Brisbane Ranges National Park)
4. VK2IO/p (Brisbane Water National Park VKFF-0056)
5. VK4NH
6. VK4DXA
7. ZL4TY/VK4
8. VK3SQ
9. VK2PKT
10. VK3OHM
11. VK3UH
12. VK3MKE
13. VK3UP
14. VK2UXO
15. VK3ALN/p
16. VK4SMA
17. VK3SX
18. VK3PF/p (Tarra Bulga National Park VKFF-0480)
19. VK7FJFD
20. VK2AB
21. VK3UCD
22. VK7ZGK
23. VK2MT
24. VK5MAS
25. VK2NP
26. VK3TNL
27. VK2YK
28. VK3TKK/m
29. VK3PTE
30. VK2AR
31. VK2HMV
32. ZL1TM
33. VK3LTL
34. VK7FRJG
35. VK2YE
36. VK3VRA
37. VK2KYO
38. VK2ZRD
39. VK4AJR/m
40. VK7FTAS
41. VK5LA/p (Ridley Conservation Park VKFF-0932)
42. VK1FMGG
43. VK5MJ
44. VK4GSF
45. VK7DX
46. VK2EMI
47. VK2PEZ
48. VK4MAY
49. VK7ALH

I worked the following station on 80m SSB as VI100PEACE:-

1. VK5YX

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB as VI100PEACE:-

1. VK7XX
2. ZL1ANF
3. VK8KMD
4. VK4PDX
5. VK4LMB
6. VK3SX

 

 

References.

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed,_Victoria>, viewed 15th November 2018

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