It was quite amazing how quick the holiday was going, and it was now already day five, Tuesday 20th November 2018.  Our time in Shepparton had come to an end and it was time to head south to Marysville, a journey of about 153 km.

Before leaving Shepparton, Marija and I paid a visit to Monash Park to view the ‘Mooving Art’, a public art exhibition of life size 3D cow, painted in various costumes and colours.  In 1999, Shepparton’s CBD marketing committee Shepparton Show Me introduced Moooving Arts predecessor – the Merry Moos, for a Christmas campaign.  The Merry Moos were so successful it was decided to expand the concept and Moooving Art was born.  They certainly are a very interesting attraction in Shepparton.

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We then climbed the Shepparton Telstra Communications Tower which is located off the Maude Street Mall.  The tower was constructed in 1967-1968 and is 76 metres tall.  There is an observation deck at 35 metres high accessed by 160 steps, which offers magnificent views over Shepparton and the surrounding countryside.

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Marija and I were feeling a bit hungry and keen for some breakfast, so we headed for Noble Monks, which had been recommended to us by Jason VK3FNQS.  And we were not disappointed.  We enjoyed a great cooked breakfast, coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice.

We then hit the road and off to our first park activation for the day, the Arcadia Bushland Reserve VKFF-2036, which is located just 22 km south of Shepparton.

There are three parks by the name Arcadia.  There is the Arcadia Streamside Reserve, the Arcadia H59 Bushland Reserve, and the Arcadia Bushland Reserve which is also referred to as the Arcadia Nature Conservation Reserve.  This is the one park of the three, which at this stage qualifies for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  The Parks Victoria website refers to the park as the Arcadia Nature Conservation Reserve, however the park sign indicates the Arcadia Bushland Reserve.

The park is located at the intersection of Arcadia Road and the Euroa-Shepparton Road.   It is located about 12 km (by road) from the little town of Arcadia.   The name came from the Arcadia pastoral run, established in 1839 and consisting of about 32,400 hectares, on the Goulburn and Broken Rivers.  It is believed the run was named after Arcadia in Greece, a place with plentiful pasture and water.  In 1848 William Snow Clifton of the Arcadia Run had 5517 sheep, 28 head of cattle and 11 horses.

In 1869 Arcadia was recorded in Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer as a small pastoral hamlet, set in rich grassy flats, well timbered with box, cherry and woolly gum.

After the area was opened for farm selection schools were opened at Arcadia (1877), Arcadia East (1883) and Arcadia South (1889).  Arcadia was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:

In about 1910, the town of Arcadia was at the height of its activity.  It had two stores, a hotel, wine shop, butter factory, butcher, bootmaker, blacksmith, Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic churches and a railway station.  In 1926 a hall was constructed, but by the 1980’s very few of these buildings existed.  In 1924 Arcadia’s school population was 55, and by 1955 it was just 11.  In 1982 the school closed.  Arcadia South schools closed in 1892 and 1919 respectively.

For more information on Arcadia, check out the Arcadia District Progress Association website at……

http://arcadia.org.au/default.asp?ID=38

The park protects a small area (8 hectares) of Grey Box-Buloke grassy woodlands.

As we had a big day ahead of us, so we decided to operate from the vehicle for this action.  The gear used was the Icon-IC-7000 and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna mounted on the rear of the Toyota Hi Lux.

I threw up a quick spot on parksnpeaks and started calling CQ on 7.144.  First in the log was Gerard VK2IO, then Ken VK3UH, Adrian VK5FANA, and Alan VK2MG.  Considering we were using the equipment from the vehicle, all signals were quite good, ranging from strength 5 to strength 9.

Within 8 minutes I had qualified the park for the VKFF program, with contact number 10 being a QSO with Kieran VK2QK.  I then spoke with Peter VK4CAL, and with the park qualified, I swapped the mic with Marija, lowering the power output down to 10 watts PEP.

Marija’s first contact was with Adrian VK5FANA, followed by Adam VK2YK, Grant VK2LX, and then Alan VK2MG.  Contact number 10 for Marija came 8 minutes into the activation, with a QSO with Kieran VK2QK.

Marija logged a further 4 stations on 40m, before I moved off to 3.610 on the 80m band.  I there logged just 2 stations, Geoff VK3SQ, and Peter VK3PF.

The park had been qualified for VKFF for both Marija and I, and it was time to hit the road once again.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5FANA
2. VK2YK
3. VK2LX
4. VK2MG
5. VK4TJ
6. VK4/AC8WN
7. VK4/VE6XT
8. VK3UH
9. VK2FF
10. VK2QK
11. VK4NH
12. VK4DXA
13. ZL4TY/VK4
14. VK2KNV/m
15. VK7FJFD

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK2IO
2. VK3UH
3. VK5FANA
4. VK2MG
5. VK2YK
6. VK7FJFD
7. VK4TJ
8. VK4/AC8WN
9. VK4/VE6XT
10. VK2QK
11. VK4CAL/2

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3SQ
2. VK3PF

 

 

References.

Arcadia & District Progress Association, 2018, <http://arcadia.org.au/default.asp?ID=59&gt;, viewed 10th December 2018

Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2006, ‘Site 14-Arcadia Bushland Reserve’.

Victorian Places, 2018, <https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/arcadia>, viewed 10th December 2018

Visit Melbourne, 2018, <https://www.visitmelbourne.com/regions/The-Murray/Things-to-do/Nature-and-wildlife/Scenic-Lookouts/Shepparton-Tower.aspx>, viewed 9th December 2018

Visit Shepparton, 2018, <http://visitshepparton.com.au/moooving-art/about-moooving-art>, viewed 10th December 2018