My first park for the 2019 VK Shires Contest was the Wiljani Conservation Park 5CP-274 & VKFF-1159, which is located in the Barossa Council area (BA5). The park is located about 55 km north east of Adelaide.
I headed out from home at Mount Barker through the towns of Nairne, Charleston, Mount Torrens and then Birdwood. I then travelled northeast on the Torrens Valley Road and soon entered into the southern part of the Barossa Valley.
The Barossa Valley is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destination. The Barossa Valley derives its name from the Barossa Range, which was named by Colonel William Light in 1837. Light chose the name in memory of the British victory over the French in the Battle of Barrosa, in which he fought in 1811. The name “Barossa” was registered in error, due to a clerical error in transcribing the name “Barrosa”.
This part of the southern Barossa consists of rolling green hills with pockets of native scrub and vineyards.
The Wiljani Conservation Park was gazetted on the 25th February 2016. Wiljani was a family group of the Peramangk Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are primarily located in the Adelaide Hills. The lands of the Tarrawatta and Yira-Ruka (Wiljani) extended to the east down as far as Mount Torrens and Mannum.
I have activated the Wiljani Conservation Park on two prior occasions. Details of those activations can be found at…….
https://vk5pas.org/2016/05/01/wiljani-conservation-park-5cp-274-and-vkff-1159/
https://vk5pas.org/2017/03/18/wiljani-conservation-park-5cp-274-and-vkff-1159-2/
Above:- An aerial view of the Wiljani Conservation Park. Image courtesy of Google maps.
I accessed the park via Elliotts Boundary Road which runs off Cricks Mill Road which runs north-west out of the town of Mount Pleasant.
Above:- An aerial view of the Wiljani Conservation Park showing my operating spot. Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
I ran the Yaesu FT-857d and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation. The linked dipole was supported by a 7 metre heavy duty telescopic squid pole. My power output was 40 watts.
I called CQ contest on 40m. First in the log was Laurie VK5LJ. I logged a total of 53 stations on 40m. This included three New Zealand stations: Bill ZL2AYZ, Andrei ZL1TM, and Gary ZL1WL. But the big surprise was a call from Frederic F5USK in France who had a big 5/9 signal. I also logged Peter VK3PF/p who was activating the Won Wron Flora Reserve VKFF-2488.
I then tried 20m, calling CQ on 14.310, but had no callers. As this was a contest I was unable to self spot on parksnpeaks.
Prior to packing up I headed to the 80m band where I logged a total of 21 stations including Bill ZL2AYZ and Paul ZL1AJY.
It was time for me to head to my next park. I had a total of 74 stations in the log.
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK5LJ
- VK2FHQQ
- VK3EV
- VK2VU
- VK3XV
- VK6QM
- VK3TIN
- VK4PDX
- VK3MKE
- VK2UXO
- VK3TKK/m
- VK4VXX/2
- VK2ND
- VK7ALH
- VK2VIN
- VK3ZE
- VK3ZMD
- VK2MTM
- VK3MAB
- VK6POP
- VK3ERT
- VK3WAR
- VK6MB/3
- VK3MPR
- VK4FFKZ
- VK3BAP
- ZL2AYZ
- VK7GH
- ZL1TM
- VK4CZ
- VK3FGDN
- VK2YW
- VK2NP
- VK4SMA
- VK2NN
- F5USK
- VK4FARR
- VK4FDJL
- VK2PKT
- VK4TJ
- VK7LH
- VK2QK
- VK2FAAA
- VK3PI
- VK3VRO
- VK2GLJ
- VK3PF (Won Wron Flora Reserve VKFF-2488)
- VK3RU
- VK4QH
- VK3FAIP
- VK3CDR
- VK4SN
- VL2LX
- ZL1WL
I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-
- VK5FMAZ
- VK4PDX
- VK3XV
- VK3BSA
- VK5FANA
- VK3TIN
- VK6MB/3
- VK3ANL
- VK3MKE
- VK2YW
- VK2IO/5
- VK2PAW
- VK3ARH
- VK3VBC
- VK2XJA
- VK5NM
- VK7JGD
- VK2FMEM
- VK3EV
- ZL2AYZ
- ZL1AJY
References.
Wikipedia, 2019, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barossa_Valley>, viewed 10th June 2019
