Our third park for Saturday (30th November 2019) was the Verandah Swamp Wildlife Reserve VKFF-2468, which is located about 320 km northwest of Melbourne, and about 2km north of the little town of Piminio in western Victoria.

This would be the first time that the park had been activated by Marija and myself.

The Verandah Swamp Wildlife Reserve is located just to the north of the little town of Piminio.  The name Piminio is believed to have been derived from an Aboriginal word describing a man squatting on his heels, or children.

The Verandah Swamp Wildlife Reserve is about 42 acres in size and is also known as the Verandah Swamp Wetland Reserve.  It was absolutely bone dry during our visit.  The park sign was in very poor shape and there was evidence of shooting in the park.  I suspect the authorities have not visited the park in many years.

We travelled along Banyena Road off the Western Highway, and onto Verandah Swamp Road.  We took a 4WD track which led down into the park and set up under the shade of some gum trees.  We ran the Yaesu FT-857d and the 20/40/80m linked dipole & 15m dipole for this activation.

Marija and I decided to start this activation on the 15m band.  I called CQ on 21.244 while Marija placed up a spot on parksnpeaks.  First in the log was Ray VK4NH, followed by Scott VK4CZ and then Adam VK2YK.  Contact number ten came just 6 minutes into the activation, with a QSO with John VK4/AC8WN.

I worked a total of 12 stations on 15m and had qualified the park for VKFF.  I then swapped the mic with Marija.

Marija’s first contact on 15m was with Greg VK4VXX, followed by John VK4TJ, and then Shane VK2LUV.  Marija had soon qualified the park for VKFF on 15m.  As we were pushed a bit for time, we again swapped the mic, moving to the 40m band.

Prior to calling CQ, Marija and I tuned across the 40m band in the hope that we would find some other park activators, which we did.  On 7.144 we logged Peter VK3PF/p and Sergio VK3SFG/p who were activating the Koonwarra Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2350.

I then moved up to 7.150 and started calling CQ.  Dave VK5MRD came back to my call, followed by Gerard VK2IO/p who was activating the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park VKFF-0272.

I went on to log a further 37 stations including some more Park to Park contacts with the following:-

• Steve VK4JSS/p – Woongoolba Conservation Park VKFF-1680.
• Brett VK3FLCS/p – Jackass Flat Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2114.
•  Nik VK3ZK/p – Cobram Regional Park VKFF-0961

Time had marched on and it was now approaching 6.00 p.m. local time.  Marija and I packed up and headed back to Dimboola.

Marija worked the following stations on 15m SSB:-

1. VK4VXX
2. VK4BXX
3. VK4/AG7WB
4. VK4TJ
5. VK4/AC8WN
6. VK4/VE6XT
7. VK4SSN
8. VK2LUV/p
9. VK4DH
10. VK2YK
11. VK2FSAV

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SFG/p (Koonwarra Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2350)
2. VK3PF/p (Koonwarra Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2350)
3. VK3FLCS/p (Jackass Flat Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2114)

I worked the following stations on 15m SSB:-

1. VK4NH
2. VK4DXA
3. ZL4TY/VK4
4. VK4CZ
5. VK2YK
6. VK4VXX
7. VK4BXX
8. VK4/AG7WB
9. VK4TJ
10. VK4/AC8WN
11. VK4/VE6XT
12. VK4SSN

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF/p (Koonwarra Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2350)
2. VK3SFG/p (Koonwarra Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2350)
3. VK5MRD
4. VK2IO/p (Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park VKFF-0272)
5. VK5KLV
6. VK2LX
7. VK3SQ
8. VK3FRAB
9. VK7QP
10. VK5WG
11. VK3RU
12. VK3XPT
13. VK3MPR
14. VK2YK
15. VK7AN
16. ZL1TM
17. VK4FDJL/5
18. VK4JSS/p (Woongoolba Conservation Park VKFF-1680)
19. VK3FLCS/p (Jackass Flat Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2114)
20. VK3PWG
21. VK3MCK
22. VK2PKT
23. VK1NK
24. VK5FANA
25. VK2HBG/1
26. VK3ARH/m
27. VK3ATO
28. VK5QI
29. VK7JON
30. VK7FCIA
31. VK5JDS
32. VK4CZ
33. VK5YP
34. VK5DW
35. VK3ZK/p (Cobram Regional Park VKFF-0961)
36. VK2JXA
37. VK5KLD
38. VK5FRSM
39. VK3MVP
40. VK5WF
41. VK7ZGK

 

 

References.

Protected Planet, 2019, <https://www.protectedplanet.net/verandah-swamp-w-r-nature-conservation-reserve>, viewed 9th December 2019

Victorian Places, 2019, <https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/pimpinio>, viewed 9th December 2019