During our activation of Lake Eildon, we were encouraged by Peter to try to activate the Buxton Silver Gum Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2058, on our way back to Marysville.  The park is located on the western side of the Maroondah Highway, about 5 km south of the town of Buxton, and about 104 km north east of the city of Melbourne.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Buxton Silver Gum Nature Conservation Reserve.  Map courtesy of Protected Planet.

The little town of Buxton contains a general store, a fishing & outdoors store, a town hall, a primary school, a number of bed and breakfast accomodation, and a Trout & Salmon Farm.  The area around Buxton was severely impacted by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.  The town itself was isolated for several days with no power or telephone.  The Marysville Police Station was temporarily relocated in the town of Buxton, after it was destroyed during the bushfires.

The Buxton Silver Gum Nature Conservation Reserve is about 17 hectares in size, and adjoins the Acheron River.  It was established to protect the endangered Buxton Gum, a native to Victoria, however there are only two known populations.  One of those is here in the park along the Acheron River, and the other being about 64 km away at Yering.  The Buxton Gum is a small tree growing to about 12 metres on height.

Above:- An aerial view of the Buxton Silver Gum NCR, with the town of Buxton and the Cathedral Range in the background.  c/o google maps

The park was severely impacted by the Black Saturday bushfires, however the native plants regenerated quickly following the fire.  Within 5 months, many of the trees were resprouting at the base.

Prior to the fires, a large amount of fauna called the park home, including Mountain Brushtail Possums, Greater Gilders, Black Wallaby, Wombat, Boobook Owl, and White Throated Treecreeper.  It is believed that these have slowly returned to the reserve.

Aerial view of the Buxton Silver Gum Nature Conservation Reserve.  Image courtesy of Protected Planet.

The shower activity had set in, so we operated from the vehicle for this activation.  Plus it was getting late, and we were keen to get back to Marysville, as it had been a long day.  I joined the 7130 DX Net on 40m and there logged a total of 7 stations from VK2, VK5, VK6, VK7, and New Zealand.

I then headed off to 3.610 on the 80m band, expecting to hear from Peter, who we had sent a quick SMS to advise we were in the park.  Sure enough, Peter was first in the log on 80m.  I logged a total of 13 stations on 80m from VK2, VK3, VK4 and VK5.

With 20 contacts in the log, and the local time now approaching 9.30 p.m., it was time to hit the road and travel the short distance back to Marysville.  This is a park we will have to revisit, so Marija can qualify it, and we can explore it during daylight hours.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK2HMV
2. VK6VZZ/m
3. ZL2ASH
4. VK7ROY
5. ZL3SV
6. ZL4SY
7. VK5MJ

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3KAI
3. VK3GV
4. VK3UH
5. VK3ANL
6. VK5LA
7. VK4TJ
8. VK4/AC8QN
9. VK4/VE6XT
10. VK3ARH
11. VK2IO
12. VK5FANA
13. VK5FMWW

References.

Melbourne’s Yarra Valley Official Visitor Site, 2018, <https://visityarravalley.com.au/activity/buxton>, viewed 17th December 2018

Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buxton,_Victoria>, viewed 17th December 2018