After leaving Warramate Hills Marija and I drove in to Lilydale and quickly called in to the home of Tony VK3AN, to pick up an antenna. Tony had kindly given me a shortened whip for the Codan 9350 for the back of my Toyota Hi Lux. After leaving Tony’s house we decided to activate the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2244, which is located about 63 km east of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. Map courtesy of Protected Planet.
The Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve is 590 hectares in size and was established in 1965. It is located near the towns of Yellingbo, Launching Place, Yarra Junction, Hoddles Creek, Cockatoo, Emerald, Monbulk and Seville. It is a narrow riparian (interface between land and a river or stream) reserve with stream frontage land along the Woori Yalloc, Shepherd, Cockatoo, Macclesfield and Sheep Station Creeks. The name Yellingbo imeans ‘today’ in the Woiwurrung aboriginal language.
About 285 native flora species have been recorded in the park, along with 230 native animals and birds. The park is home to the Helmeted Honeyeater, a critically endangered bird, which exists in the wild only in a tiny relict population in Victoria. Yellingbo is the only location where all of Victoria’s State terrestrial emblems can be found in the one place, the Helmeted Honeyeater, Leadbeater’s Possum, and Pink Heath.
Above:- Helmeted Honeyeater. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
We parked in a car park off the Macclesfield Road, near the Woori Yallock Creek. As it was drizzling with rain, we operated from the vehicle for this activation.
Above:- An aerial shot of the park showing our operating spot. Image courtesy of Protected Planet
Marija placed up a spot for me on parksnpeaks and I started calling CQ on 7.144. Liz VK2XSE/p was the first to call in. It was a great way to start to the activation with a Park to Park. Liz was in the Langtree Nature Reserve VKFF-2642. Next up was Peter VK2UXO with his normal booming signal, and then Andy VK5LA.
Unfortunately a buzzing noise came up on the frequency, so I moved up to 7.148 and called CQ again. This was answered by Ray VK4NH. I logged a further 4 stations on 40m, before swapping the microphone with Marija.
Marija logged a total of 8 stations on 40m from VK2, VK3, VK4 and VK5, until callers dried up. We then moved down to 3.610 on the 80m band where we logged Peter VK3PF/VK3KAI.
We had both qualified the park for the VKFF program and the local time was now approaching 4.00 p.m. local time. So we hit the road again and headed off to Sorrento.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK2XSE/p (Langtree Nature Reserve VKFF-2642)
- VK3SQ
- VK2IO
- VK2MG
- VK5FANA
- VK4NH
- VK4DXA
- ZL4TY/VK4
Marija worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK2XSE/p (Langtree Nature Reserve VKFF-2642)
- VK2UXO
- VK5LA
- VK4NH
- VK4DXA
- ZL4TY/VK4
- VK5FANA
- VK5MAS
- VK2IO
- VK2MG
I worked the following station on 80m SSB:-
- VK3PF
We made our way down onto the Mornington Peninsula and into the town of Sorrento, which is located on the shores of Port Phillip. It is believed that the town was named back in the 1870’s after Sorrento in Italy.
We booked in to our accomodation, the Sorrento Beach Motel, which we were very impressed with. After freshening up we headed out for tea to the Itali.co restaurant. The food was brilliant.
References.
Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmeted_honeyeater>, viewed 17th December 2018
Wikipedia, 2018, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellingbo_Nature_Conservation_Reserve>, viewed 17th December 2018
VK5PAS 