Yesterday (Sunday 21st April 2019) Marija VK5FMAZ and I headed to the Christmas Hill Native Forest Reserve VKFF-2893, one of the newly added parks in the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Thirteen Native Forest Reserves located in the Adelaide Hills and on the Fleurieu Peninsula have been added to the program in the last 48 hours.  This is together with new parks added earlier in the year in VK6 and VK8, and also a number of parks in VK4.  Nearly 200 are to appear soon from VK3.

The Christmas Hill Native Forest Reserve is located in the Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’, and is about 8 km southwest of the town of Meadows and about 45 km south-east of the city of Adelaide.

The park is just a short drive from our home.  We travelled to Meadows and then south-west on Brookman Road towards Willunga.  We travelled passed the historic woodcutters cottage on Brookman Road which now offers accommodation, and then passed the Kuitpo Hall built of stone in 1926.  The pickers were out in force in the nearby Kuitpo Forest strawberry farm.

We then turned in to Brookman-Connor Road which took us through the pine forest towards the park.  It was an overcast day but quite mild, following a 32 deg C day on Saturday.

There are some great views to be had of the surrounding countryside along the way.

The Christmas Hill Native Forest Reserve is 309.9 hectares in size and is one of three Native Forest Reserves located in the Kuitpo Forest Reserve in the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’.  Nearby Native Forest Reserves are Mount Panorama and Knott Hill.  These reserves are of high conservation value and contain a rich variety of trees, shrubs and ground cover species which provide significant habitat for native birds, reptiles and mammals.

The Kuitpo Forest Reserve was established in 1989.  It was the first of a number of forest plantations in the Mount Lofty Ranges, established to ensure a sustainable timber resource for South Australia.  The reserve is managed by Forestry SA.

The Christmas Hill Native Forest Reserve is an IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources 2005) Category IV reserve. These category of park are habitat or species management areas, protected and managed mainly for conservation through management intervention to ensure the maintenance of habitats and/or to meet the requirements of species.

The name Christmas Hill is derived from the peak of the same name on the north-eastern boundary of the reserve.  The reserve contains 400 identified native plant species, including 63 with conservation significance.  The entire Christmas Hill area was devastated by the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires.

The Reserve is integrated with various pine plantations managed by Forestry SA.  The reserve’s southern boundary borders the Kyeema Conservation Park.

A large number of native bird species call the park home.  This includes Yellow-tailed black cockatoos, who were in abundance during our visit.

We set up just inside gate CH18 on Christmas Hill Road.

There was plenty of room here to stretch out the 20/40/80m linked dipole, and we were away from other users in the park.

The 40m band was alive with activity and it was quite difficult to find a clear spot.  I found 7.134 clear and started calling CQ whilst Marija placed a spot on parksnpeaks for me.  First in the log was Peter VK3PF with an excellent 5/9 signal, followed by Lee VK3HOT, and then John VK4TJ.

As this was a new park it did not take long for a small pile up to develop.  Within an hour I worked a total of 65 stations from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 and VK7.  This included the following Park to Park contacts:-

• Mark VK4SMA/p – Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park VKFF-1651
• Jonathan VK7JON/p – Eugenana State Reserve VKFF-1800
• Helen VK7FOLK/p – Eugenana State Reserve VKFF-1800

I had qualified the park for both VKFF and WWFF, and now it was Marija’s turn to get onto the microphone.  Mike VK5FMWW was first in Marija’s log, followed by Danny VK5DW, Mike VK6MB/3, and then Ivan VK3OHM.  It took Marija just 8 minutes to get her 10 contacts.  QSO number ten was with Brian VK5TBC.

It took Marija just 45 minutes to qualify the park for WWFF.  The 40m band was in great shape.  Marija’s contacts were from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.  This included the following Park to Park contact:-

• Mark VK4SMA/p – Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park VKFF-1651

Marija was extremely happy to have qualified the park for the global WWFF program, and it was my turn now to ramp up the power and make a few more contacts.  David VK3UCD came back to my CQ call, followed by Greg VK4VXX/6, and then Rick VK4RF.  I worked a further 9 stations, taking my total contacts for the activation to 77 QSOs.

Marija and I then lowered the squid pole and we removed the links for the 20m band.  I called CQ on 14.310 and it wasn’t long before John VK4TJ came back to my call.  This was followed by another regular park hunter Ray VK4NH.  I logged a total of 17 stations on 20m SSB which included Greg VK4VXX/6 who suggested we also try AM which we did.  It was my first ever AM contact on 20m.

The real highlight of 20m was a Park to Park contact with Kent K7CAR/p in the Dixie National Forest KFF-4395 in the USA.  The photographs below are courtesy of Kent.

Marija and I then returned to 40m logging the following Park to Park contacts:-

• Adam VK2YK/p – Hat Head National Park VKFF-0230
• Andy VK5LA/p – Jallumba Marsh Flora Reserve VKFF-2338
• Ian VK1DI/2 – Barren Grounds Nature Reserve VKFF-1885

I then moved down to the 80m band and called CQ on 3.610.  Mike VK5FMWW was my first taker, followed by Danny VK5DW, and then Linda VK7QP.  Band conditions were excellent on 80m.   But sadly I only logged 6 stations.

I then moved back to 40m where I logged a further 24 stations on 7.158, including Max IK1GPG in Italy.  Unfortunately, DC5ZVU came up on the frequency and started calling CQ, which made it impossible to copy any callers, as he was a 5/8 signal.  So I moved down to 7.156 where I made a further 4 stations.

To complete the activation I had a tune across the band and found Manuel EA1DLU/p in Spain on 7.175 calling CQ with a strong 5/9 signal.  I was very lucky to have Manuel come back to my first call.  Manuel gave me a 5/7 signal report into Spain with my 40 watts and small wire antenna.

Below is a short video of part of my QSO with Manuel.

I then found Craig VK3CRG/p on 7.170.  Craig was portable at Little River and had a friend Debbie with him, who was a budding ham.  Marija had a chat with Debbie and explained to her where we were operating from, and a little bit about Marija’s history in the hobby.  Sadly the rain started tumbling down at Craig’s location which resulted in Craig having to go clear.

David VK5LSB then called me to say hi, followed by Perrin VK3XPT/p who was operating portable on the beach at Sandy Point using his military transceiver.  Marija was keen to pack up and head home, so I apologise to anybody else who may have wanted to call into this new park.  We will be back.

Below is a short video taken by Perrin of our contact.

Below is a video I took on the iphone showing some of Marija’s contacts during the activation.

This had been an amazing activation.  Marija had qualified the park for VKFF and WWFF, and had 49 contacts in the log.  I had also qualified the park for VKFF and WWFF, and had a total of 136 contacts in the log.  This included ten Park to Park contacts between the two of us, including the Park to Park into the USA.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5FMWW
2. VK5DW
3. VK6MB/3
4. VK5HS
5. VK3OHM
6. VK3PF
7. VK7ALH
8. VK3SH
9. VK5KLV
10. VK5TBC
11. VK7QP
12. VK3SQ
13. VK2PKT
14. VK4CZ
15. VK5WU
16. VK3FDZE
17. VK3MPR
18. VK4SMA/p (Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park VKFF-1651)
19. VK4HNS
20. VK2KJJ
21. VK3BYD
22. VK3XPT
23. VK2HHA
24. VK5PE
25. VK3AB/p
26. VK2YMU
27. VK4FARR
28. VK3FAMPT
29. VK2UTL
30. VK3BNC
31. VK4VXX/6
32. VK2WQ
33. VK3NCR/p
34. VK3YBP
35. VK3BSG
36. VK3IL/p
37. VK4RF
38. VK4HA
39. VK4TJ
40. VK4/AC8WN
41. VK4/VE6XT
42. VK1MCW
43. VK5IS
44. VK3KAI
45. VK3GV
46. VK5MK/m
47. VK5LA/p (Jallumba Marsh Flora Reserve VKFF-2338)
48. VK1DI/2 (Barren Grounds Nature Reserve VKFF-1885)
49. VK3CRG/p

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3HOT
3. VK4TJ
4. VK4/AC8WN
5. VK4/VE6XT
6. VK3SQ
7. VK3DAC
8. VK2MY/3
9. VK4AAC/3
10. VK2VH/3
11. VK5KLV
12. VK4HNS
13. VK4SMA/p (Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park VKFF-1651)
14. VK5FANA
15. VK3ANL
16. VK3FPSR
17. VK2YMU
18. VK4CZ
19. VK4NH
20. VK4DXA
21. ZL4TY/VK4
22. VK3DBP
23. VK7JON/p (Eugenia State Reserve VKFF-1800)
24. VK7FOLK/ (Eugenia State Reserve VKFF-1800)
25. VK3TKK/m
26. VK3MPR
27. VK2FAAA/3
28. VK7ALH
29. VK2VW
30. VK3ARH
31. VK3NDX
32. VK2IO/m
33. VK3WAR
34. VK3EAC
35. VK2AB
36. VK7EE
37. VK2JDS
38. VK3MCK
39. VK4NKL/p
40. VK4FARR
41. VK5FMWW
42. VK4FDJL
43. VK3VBC
44. VK2FHIT
45. VK7EK
46. VK1TX
47. VK5MK/m
48. VK5WU
49. VK5DW
50. VK3FDZE
51. VK5VGC
52. VK3TNL
53. VK3STU
54. VK3ZNK
55. VK5AUS
56. VK5TBC/m
57. VK5HS
58. VK7QP
59. VK6CP
60. VK5PE
61. VK6MB/3
62. VK2OD
63. VK5FBUD
64. VK5GP
65. VK2EMI
66. VK3UCD
67. VK4VXX/6
68. VK4RF
69. VK4HA
70. VK7LH
71. VK2GAZ
72. VK5FLKJ
73. VK3NBL
74. VK1MCW
75. VK5MAS
76. VK5PW
77. VK5WF
78. VK2YK/p (Hat Head National Park VKFF-0230)
79. VK5LA/p (Jallumba Marsh Flora Reserve VKFF-2338 )
80. VK1DI/2 (Barren Grounds Nature Reserve VKFF-1885)
81. VK3AHR
82. VK3CWF
83. ZL1TM
84. VK3KMH
85. VK2HHA
86. VK3SX
87. VK3IRM
88. VK3MLU
89. VK3MKE
90. VK2HBO
91. IK1GPG
92. VK3CGB
93. VK3IL/p
94. VK7KT
95. VK2PKT
96. VK2GJC
97. VK2CAF
98. VK7FRJG
99. VK2HRX/3
100. VK2PBC/p (QRP)
101. VK4RG
102. VK2XXM
103. VK6LG
104. VK1JP/2
105. VK7HAM
106. VK7PAK
107. VK6SKY
108. VK3VGB
109. EA1DLU
110. VK3CRG/p
111. VK5LSB
112. VK3XPT/p (military tx)

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4TJ
2. VK4/AC8WN
3. VK4/VE6XT
4. VK4NH
5. VK4DXA
6. ZL4TY/VK4
7. VK2GZ
8. VK6MAC
9. VK4CZ
10. VK4PDX
11. VK4VXX/6
12. VK2HDX
13. VK4TMZ
14. K7CAR/p (Dixie National Forest KFF-4395)
15. VK4AS
16. VK2JON
17. VK4HNS

I worked the following station on 20m AM:-

1. VK4VXX/6

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5FMWW
2. VK5DW
3. VK7QP
4. VK5HS/m
5. VK5YX
6. VK3AHR

 

 

References.

Forestry SA, 2016, Mount Panorama, Knott Hill & Christmas Hill Native Forest Reserves Management Plan.