It was now day nine (Wednesday 14th April 2021). Our plans today were a revisit to the Merbein South Flora Reserve, a visit to Trentham EstateWinery, and an afternoon activation of the Kemendok National Park.
We started the day with breakfast again at the Langtree cafe for breakfast.
We also visited the W.B. Chaffey statue in Mildura. It was erected by his many friends in Mildura and throughout Australia.
We also had a look at the Chaffey fountain in Mildura. This is the original fountain. A replica is located in front of Rio Vista House. The fountain was turned off and remained idle following the tragic drowning of one of the Chaffey children in 1897. The fountain was later donated to the people of Mildura in 1936.
Our next stop was the Mildura Homestead cemetery which consists of two adjacent graveyards. The earliest contains the graves of Joseph Hawdon and the other where the Chaffey women are buried. One solitary grave stood in the Homestead cemetery, the first cemetery in Mildura, for nearly 40 years. In 1848, John Hawdon, a former employee at Kulnine Station, fell from his horse. He later died in a tent on the riverbank. John was the son of Joseph Hawdon who, with MC Bonney, drove 340 cattle from Melbourne to Adelaide along the Murray, passing Mildura early in 1838.
We then indulged our sweet tooth propensity and visited the Ye Olde Lolly Shoppe in Mildura. It was like stepping back in time with all different sorts of lollies and chocolates. The shop was Mildura’s original lolly shop and was first opened in 1938. The shop continues to operate with all the original fittings and magic of old fashioned stores providing over 4000 lines of confectionery from all over the world.
We then headed to Lock 11 and the Mildura Weir. The Mildura Weir was constructed between 1923 and 1927. It is a Dethridge type weir comprising 24 steel trestles, each weighing about 11 tonnes. Lock 11 is unique in that the lock was built inside a bend of the river, with the weir in the bend itself. A channel was dug to the lock, creating an island between it and the weir.
Lock 11 is a concrete chamber 61.54m long, 17.1 m wide and 7.6, deep. Each of the four steel lock gates is 9.4m, 6.9m high, and is made of 12mm steel plate and weighs 18 tonnes.
I spent quite a bit of time here birdwatching and taking some snaps. Some of my shots can be seen below, including some of Whistling Kites.
We then drove out to the Mildura cemetery to view the headstone of W.B. Chaffey, the founder of Mildura.
It was then time for us to head back to the Merbein South Flora Reserve VKFF-2383. Access was via Midgey Road.
As I only need 13 contacts from this park (31 in the log from yesterday), we operated from the vehicle. First in the log was Rob VK2VH. Ray VK4NH was my 13th caller and 44th in total.
I ended up logging a total of 23 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5. This included a Park to Park contact with Stuart VK3UAO/p who was activating the The Spit Wildlife Reserve VKFF-2452.
To conclude the activation I put out a few quick calls on 20m and logged just the one station, Linda Vk7QP in Tasmania.
Marija worked the following station on 40m SSB:-
- VK3UAO/p (The Spit Wildlife Reserve VKFF-2452)
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK2VH
- VK4AAC/2
- VK5WG
- VK3AWA
- VK4KLA
- VK3SQ
- VK3UAO/p (The Spit Wildlife Reserve VKFF-2452)
- VK7QP
- VK2IO
- VK5FANA
- VK4NH
- VK4DXA
- ZL4TY/VK4
- VK3UH
- VK3XCI
- VK2UK
- VK3TKK/m
- VK4KC
- VK4MAD
- VK4DOG
- VK1NK
- VK2YW
- VK3VRA
I worked the following station on 20m SSB:-
- VK7QP
References.
Mildura Rural City Council, 2021, <https://www.mildura.vic.gov.au/Latest-News/Rio-Vista-Fountain-returned-to-former-glory-in-conservation-project>, viewed 8th May 2021.
Visit Mildura, 2021, <https://www.visitmildura.com.au/Operators/Family-Fun/Bushells-on-Tenth-Ye-Olde-Lolly-Shoppe.aspx>, viewed 8th May 2021
VK5PAS 