It was now day ten (Thursday 15th April 2021) of our trip. We had planned on heading out to Mungo National Park today, but after a visit to the Robinvale Visitor Information Centre, we were convinced to leave that trip til the next day and leave bright and early.

While at the Visitor Info Centre we had a look at the old Robinvale Railway Station. It was built in 1924 at the terminal station on the Korong Vale line to service north western Victoria. This line took a period of almost 40 years to reach from Korong Vale. The Robinvale Station is classified as a 1919 Type C design and is the only remaining example of its type. The Edwardian 1919 design incorporates a lobby one end, an office area and ladies waiting room with a verandah facing the platform, with a yard toilet on the opposite end.

With our plans changed, we decided to activate a couple of parks and visit the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers.

Our first park activation for the day was the Tol Tol Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2173, which is located about 10 km south of Robinvale.

We headed out of Robinvale on the Murray Valley Highway and then turned right onto Cook Road. We soon reached the park which was well signposted.

This was to be another first time activation of this park for both of us. The park had however been activated back in 2019 by Mike VK6MB.

The Tol Tol Flora & Fauna Reserve is 2.62 km² in size and was established in 2009. The park takes its name from the locality of Tol Tol. The Tol Tol Post office was open between 1924 and 1926.

The park is a small piece of remnant scrub which is surrounded by cleared farming land.

We found an open gate and drove into the park a short distance along the 4WD track.

We were set up and ready to go about 50 minutes before the UTC rollover which we hoped to use to our advantage to get to 44 QSOs. Marija placed a spot up for me on parksnpeaks while I called CQ on 7.144. This was answered by regular park hunter Gerard VK2IO, followed by Peter VK3TKK mobile, and then Glen VK4HMI.

Callers were quite spare and contact number ten for me was 16 minutes into the activation, with a QSO with Ray VK4NH.

Once I had qualified the park for VKFF with 10 contacts, I swapped the mic with Marija. Her first contact was with Ray VK4NH. Marija’s tenth contact was with Peter VK2KA.

Marija was happy that she had qualified the park for VKFF, and I jumped back into the operator’s chair with the hope that I might be able to get 44 contacts. However, it did not look promising as callers were slow.

Fortunately as the morning went on, the number of callers increased and I logged a total of 32 stations on 40m before the UTC rollover.

After the UTC rollover I logged a further 20 stations including three Park to Park QSOs: Joe VK3SRC/p and Julie VK3FOWL/p in the Churchill National Park VKFF-0621; and Marcel VK1ZAX/p in the Kosciuszko National Park VKFF-0269.

Contact number 44 was with Damien VK3EJ.

I also tried 80m where I logged 3 stations from VK2 and VK3.

And then 3 contacts on the 20m band into VK4.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK4NH
2. VK4DXA
3. ZL4TY/VK4
4. VK4KC
5. VK4MAD
6. VK4DOG
7. VK1DI
8. VK4HNS
9. VK3ZM
10. VK2KA

I worked the following stations before the UTC rollover on 40m SSB:-

1. VK2IO
2. VK3TKK/m
3. VK4HMI
4. VK4WTN
5. VK2HRX
6. VK4HNS
7. VK3ZM
8. VK3MCK
9. VK3NFS
10. VK4NH
11. VK4DXA
12. ZL4TY/VK4
13. VK4FDJL
14. VK1DI
15. VK2VW
16. VK2HFI
17. VK5HAA
18. VK2AB
19. VK4KC
20. VK4MAD
21. VK4DOG
22. VK3ZPF
23. VK3ANP
24. VK5FB
25. VK3IH
26. VK7QP
27. VK7AN
28. VK3SKT
29. VK3PF
30. VK2ABS
31. VK3CWF
32. VK1BUB

I worked the following stations after the UTC rollover on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SRC (Churchill National Park VKFF-0621)
2. VK3FOWL (Churchill National Park VKFF-0621)
3. VK3CWF
4. VK4KC
5. Vk4MAD
6. VK4DOG
7. VK7QP
8. VK2VW
9. VK2HFI
10. VK5WG
11. VK5FB
12. VK3EJ
13. VK4NH
14. VK4DXA
15. ZL4TY/VK4
16. VK3TEK
17. VK3PF
18. VK1ZAX/p (Kosciuszko National Park VKFF-0269)
19. VK7AN
20. VK3ZPF
21. VK1DI

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3MCK
3. VK2DG

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4KC
2. VK4MAD
3. VK4DOG

References.

Protected Planet, 2021, <https://www.protectedplanet.net/314763>, viewed 9th May 2021.

Wikipedia, 2021, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tol_Tol,_Victoria>, viewed 9th May 2021

After packing up at the Merbein South Flora Reserve, Marija and I headed over the Murray River and into New South Wales. We travelled south along the Sturt Highway and soon reached Trentham Estate Winery. The winery has been operating since 1988 and has grown from a 30 tonne crush to today’s ability to handle 5,000 tonnes of premium fruit each vintage.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed a glass of red and a platter with cheese, meats, dips and various other condiments. I could have easily stayed there and had a few more glasses of wine, but I knew I had to drive.

The winery is located right alongside of the Murray River and we enjoyed some great views of the mighty Murray while we enjoyed our wine and platter.

We then continued along the Sturt Highway and detoured off to have a look at Bottle Bend, a sharp bend in the Murray River.

We then continued south on the Sturt Highway and turned off onto Tapalin Mail Road, and then took a 4WD track into the Kemendok National Par VKFF-1174.

This was to be a first activation of the park by Marija and myself. The park had been activated on two previous occasions: Nick VK3ANL and Mike VK6MB in 2019.

The Kemendok National Park is located on the far west of New South Wales, about 40km south-east of Buronga and about 36 km north-west of Euston. The western boundary of Kemendok is defined by the Murray River (the State border between New South Wales and Victoria).

The Kemendok National Park is 9,794 hectares in size and was established on the 1st day of July 2010. Prior to this it was known as the Mallee Cliffs State Forest, dedicated way back in 1922 for the purposes of timber production and other uses including apiary and grazing.

The area which is now the park was back in 1851 known as the Bengallow Run, a 12,432 hectare run which had a capacity of 4,000 sheep and was leased to John McKinlay. By 1879 the Bengallow Run was part of the Tapalin Pastoral Holding which comprised 13 runs. The Tapalin Homestead was located in the southern section of the park and today this area is referred to as The Mulberries. Nil remains of the buildings, however three mulberry trees can still be found, along with a grave which is believed to be that of a farm labourer.

By 1884 there were two homestead leases on the Murray River including Bengallow Station homestead which was owned by John Grace.

The Kemendok National Park surrounds the Kemendok Nature Reserve which was gazetted in 1988. Limited access is allowed to the Reserve. Adjacent to the eastern boundary of Kemedok is a 8,190 hectare privately managed conservation reserve.

Across the river in Victoria are Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Murray-Kulkyne Park, River Murray Reserve and Karadoc Nature Conservation Reserve.

The Kemendok National Park contains significant vegetation which is otherwise poorly represented around Australia. This includes River Red Gum-Black Box Woodland, and Chenopod-Mallee Shrubland. Some of the River Red Gums are 20 metres in height.

The park is home to numerous native animal species and birds. This includes the eastern subspecies of the Regent Parrot which is listed as threatened at both State and National level. Other birds found in the park include White-bellied Sea Eagle, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, Black-eared Miner, Rufous Field-wren, Little Eagle, and Gilberts Whistler.

Prior to propping on a frequency and calling CQ, Marija and I logged a Park to Park contact with Daryl VK3AWA/p who was activating The Lakes National Park VKFF-0484.

We then moved down the 40m band to 7.115 and I started calling CQ. This was answered by Ray VK3NBL, followed by Mal VK5MJ and then Cam VK2DG. Contact number ten for me was with Chris VK2NAP/p who was in the Booderee National Park VKFF-0043.

Band conditions on 40m were excellent and it only took me about 45 minutes and I had 44 contacts in the log. Contact number 44 was with Mike VK3ZMD in Melbourne.

With 45 contacts in the log I swapped operator positions with Marija.

Marija soon had her own pile-up to deal with. Marija’s 10th contact was with Ray VK4DXA, and within 35 minutes Marija had qualified the park for the global WWFF program. Contact number 44 was with Graham VK7ZGK. Marija logged a further 2 stations and then handed the mic back to me. Marija’s contacts were into VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.

I called CQ on 14.310 and this was answered by Marty VK4KC. Sadly the Over the Horizon Radar was present on 20m again and was strength 9 plus. It certainly made things very difficult at times. I logged a total of 9 stations on 20m from VK4 and New Zealand.

To conclude the activation I called CQ on 3.610 on the 80m band where I logged a total of 8 stations from VK3, VK4, and VK5.

This had been a particular good activation with a total of 115 QSOs in the log between the two of us.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3AWA/p (The Lakes National Park VKFF-0484)
2. VK2HRX
3. VK3PF
4. VK5TOM
5. VK5FANA
6. VK5HS
7. VK3EJ
8. VK5WG
9. VK4NH
10. VK4DXA
11. ZL4TY/VK4
12. VK2VH
13. VK4AAC/2
14. VK3TJK
15. VK3SQ
16. VK3PI
17. VK2EAC
18. VK3GL/p
19. VK3MPR
20. VK3LL
21. VK4KLA
22. VK4HNS
23. VK3GB
24. VK2NMZ
25. VK3BBB
26. VK2CCP
27. VK4HAT
28. VK5JP
29. VK5VC
30. VK4KC
31. VK4MAD
32. VK4DOG
33. VK5BMC
34. VK3SRC
35. VK2DG
36. VK2PKT
37. VK2KMI
38. VK5MJ
39. VK3MKE
40. VK3NFS
41. VK5MSA
42. VK3AJK
43. VK5KLV
44. VK7ZGK
45. VK3ZPF
46. VK5LB

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3AWA/p (The Lakes National Park VKFF-0484)
2. VK3NBL
3. VK5MJ
4. VK2DG
5. VK5TOM
6. VK3CWF
7. VK3PF
8. VK5GY
9. VK5HS
10. VK2NAP/p (Booderee National Park VKFF-0043)
11. VK5MRE
12. VK5PL
13. VK3BBB
14. VK5RK
15. VK4FDJL
16. VK5WG
17. VK3XCI
18. VK5BMC
19. VK2IO
20. VK4NH
21. VK4DXA
22. ZL4TY/VK4
23. VK4HMI
24. VK2VH
25. VK4AAC/2
26. VK5FDMG
27. VK5FANA
28. VK3DAC
29. VK3SQ
30. VK3PI
31. VK7ME
32. VK7QP
33. VK3GYH
34. VK3TJK
35. VK3MPR
36. VK7EE
37. VK2KYO
38. VK3HY
39. VK1DI
40. VK4KC
41. VK4MAD
42. VK4DOG
43. VK3FRC
44. VK3ZMD
45. VK2EAC
46. VK5LB
47. ZL1TM
48. VK5MSA
49. VK3ZPF
50. VK2STG/m
51. VK3UH
52. VK3YV

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4KC
2. VK4MAD
3. VK4DOG
4. VK4BXX
5. VK4/NN3Z
6. VK4HB
7. VK4PHD
8. ZL4NVW
9. VK4HAT

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3MCK
3. VK5FANA
4. VK4NH
5. VK4DXA
6. ZL4TY/VK4
7. VK3ARH
8. VK3HRA

Rather than heading back to the highway we took the dirt back roads which at times was slow due to stock crossing the road.

We then drove into Robinvale on the Victorian/New South Wales border and booked into our accomodation, the Robinvale Motel. That evening we enjoyed a beautiful meal at the motel’s restaurant.

References.

Kemendok National Park Plan of Management, 202, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.

NSW NPWS, 2021, <https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/kemendok-national-park>, viewed 8th May 2021

Trentham Estate, 2021, <https://trenthamestate.com.au/the-winery>, viewed 8th May 2021