When the Tassie Ham Conference & Expo wrapped up on Sunday afternoon (7th November 2022), Marija and I headed down to Hobart waterfront and Constitution Dock.

We then visited the Mawson’s Hut Replica Museum. Sir Douglas Mawson(b. 1882. d. 1958) was an Australian geologist, academic, and Antarctic explorer. He was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Next we walked over to Parliament House Gardens where the 2022 Nepal Festival was in full swing.

We then wandered over to historic Salamanca Place. Salamanca consists of rows of historic sandstone buildings which were formerly warehouses for the Port of Hobart Town. They have been converted into restaurants, galleries, craft shops and offices. Salamanca was named after the 1812 victory of the Duke of Wellington in the Battle of Salamanca in the Spanish province of Salamanca. 

Whilst in Salamanca Place we enjoyed some waffles and ice cream.

We then walked back to our car, stopping briefly to have a look at the very impressive Police boat and a navy ship docked.

As it was such a nice sunny afternoon, Marija and I decided to drive up to the top of Mount Wellington to do a joint activation for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program and the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program.

Above:- Map of Tasmania showing the location of Mount Wellington. Map c/o Google maps.

Mount Wellington qualifies for the SOTA program. It is VK7/ SC-001. The summit is 1,270 metres above sea level and is worth 10 points. It has been activated a total of 67 times.

Above:- An aerial view of Mount Wellington and Wellington Park. Image c/o Google maps.

Mount Wellington is known as kunanyi by the indigeneous people of Tasmania. The Tasmanian Goverment in 2013 announced a dual naming policy with Mount Wellington named as one of the inaugural dual named geographical features in Tasmania.

In 1791 the mountain was named Table Mountain by Captain William Bligh and First Lieutenant F.G. Bond for its similarity in appearance to Table Mountain in South Africa.

In 1793 Commodore John Hayes sighted the mountain and named it Skiddaw after the mountain in the Lake district of northwest England.

In 1802 French explored Nicholas Baudin referred to the mountain as ‘Montagne du Plateau’.

However, the British first settled in the Hobart area in 1804 and as a result Flinder’s name of ‘Table Mountain’ became more popular. Table Mountain remained the common name of the mountain until in 1832. At that time it was decided to rename the mountain in honour of the Duke of Wellington (b. 1769. d. 1852).

Above:- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The summit is also located within Wellington Park Conservation Area VKFF-2932. The park is Tasmania’s second most visited attraction. Wellington Park is 18,250 hectares in size and is one of Tasmania’s largest reserved areas outside of the Tasmanian World Heritage Area.

Above:- the Wellington Park Conservation Area. Image c/o Google Earth.

Over 500 native species of flora have been recorded in the park, with over 80 species only found in Tasmania. A number of these are of conservation significance.

Native mammals who call the park home include the long–nose potoroo, pademelon, bettong, southern brown and eastern barred bandicoots, brush tail, ring–tail, pygmy and eastern pygmy possums, eastern quoll, platypus and echidna, swamp rat, long-tailed mouse, dusky antechinus and various species of bats. 

The Tasmanian and brown froglet, brown tree frog, southern toadlet, bull frogs, spotted grass frogs and the endangered green and gold frog can be found in the park.

Reptiles which can be located in Wellington Park include blue–tongued lizards, mountain dragons, a variety of skinks, all three of Tasmania’s snakes – the tiger, copperhead and white–lipped snake.

We drove up to the top of Mount Wellington and set up on the rocky area adjacent to the car park. We ran the Yaesu FT857d, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation.

During our activation we were visited by Hayden VK7HH and Ben VK4UMB. Marija and I convinced Ben to get behind the mic and qualify the park and summit.

We also had some very interested onlookers. This included three couples who were visiting from Singapore. We explained the hobby to them, and after some encouragement one of the gentlemen was game enough to pick up the mic and say hello to some of the amateurs we were working around Australia. It was a good advertisement for the hobby.

Hayden VK7HH took some video of our activation.

It was starting to get extremely cold and the sun was setting so Marija and I decided to pack up. Hayden and Justin had already moved off to a warmer location.

Between the two of us we had 77 QSOs in the log, with contacts into VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK7, New Zealand, USA, Portugal, Finland, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Germany.

The highlight was working Portugal on 40m SSB.

Marija made the following QSOs on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5KG
2. VK2MET
3. VK1AO
4. VK3VIN
5. VK3PF
6. VK4TJ
7. VK3BBB
8. VK2CCP
9. VK4SMA
10. VK5DW
11. VK2EXA
12. VK7TW

I made the following QSOs on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SGA
2. VK2MET
3. VK1AO
4. VK3ANL
5. VK3BBB
6. VK2CCP
7. VK3PF
8. VK4NH
9. VK4DXA
10. VK2EXA
11. VK3PT
12. VK3MTT
13. VK3UAO
14. VK2WP
15. VK3GJG
16. ZL2ATH
17. KG5CIK
18. VK/DP5LED
19. VK3VIN
20. VK2WOG
21. VK3ZPF
22. VK5BJE
23. VK4KLA
24. VVK4SMA
25. VK4TJ
26. VK5GY
27. VK5KG
28. VK3VKT
29. VK2HRX
30. CT1CJJ
31. VK3FMRC
32. VK5IS
33. VK3APJ
34. VK2IO
35. VK5HS
36. VK3AMO
37. VK3GRX
38. VK3DL
39. VK3SKT
40. VK2HMC
41. VK2YK
42. VK5GA
43. VK3NP
44. VK3DEM
45. VK5HAA
46. VK7CIA
47. VK2MI
48. VK5DW
49. VK2MOP
50. VK5FBIC

I made the following QSOs on 20m SSB:-

1. OH1MM
2. VK4KC
3. VK4MAD
4. VK4DOG
5. EA4FLS
6. VK4TJ
7. F1BLL
8. IW2NXI
9. ON4ON
10. IW2BNA
11. DJ5AV
12. F4WBN
13. DL2ND
14. VK5HS
15. F5JKK

References.

1. Summits On The Air, 2022, <https://www.sota.org.uk/>, viewed 28th December 2022.
2. Wellington Park Management Trust, 2022, <https://wellingtonpark.org.au/the-park>, viewed 28th December 2022.
3. Wikipedia, 2022, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Mawson>, viewed 28th December 2022.
4. Wikipedia, 2022, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca_Place>, viewed 28th December 2022.
5. Wikipedia, 2022, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wellington_(Tasmania)>, viewed 28th December 2022.

On Sunday 6th November 2022 Marija and I headed back to the University of Tasmania for day two of the Tassie Ham Conference and Expo.

Day two involved a number of displays.

Marija VK5MAZ and I manned a display table for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. We were alongside of Tony VK7LTD who had a display table for the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program.

Other than a lot of questions being fielded at our display, it was a great day of catching up with some hams. This included Ken ZL4KD, the former ZLFF Co-Ordinator in New Zealand, and John VK4MUD.

Marija also went out for morning tea with the ladies from ALARA.

Marija and I would like to thank the organisers of the Tassie Ham Conference and Expo. It was an extremely well put together event and we were very grateful for being asked to attend to participate.

It was now Saturday 5th November 2022 and the first day of the Tassie Ham Conference and Expo, which was held in Hobart, Tasmania.

I delivered a presentation on the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. There were about 130 amateurs in attendance.

Below is a video of my presentation which features on Hayden VK7HH’s You Tube channel.

Day eight of our Tasmania trip was already upon us (Friday 4th November 2022). We had decided to visit the historic towns of Kempton and Oatlands and then fit in another park activation.

After breakfast we headed north out of Hobart on the Midland Highway. Our first stop was to have a look from the road, of Wybra Hall. It is one of a number of majestic and historic homes along the Highway at Mangalore and Bagdad, north of Hobart. Wybra Hall was built in c. 1860. During the 1950s it was purchased by the Tasmanian Government and was a government run reformatory for boys and girls. It closed in 1988. It is now a private residence.

A little further along the Highway at Bagdad is the historic homestead of Oakwood. a two storey Georgian mansion which was built in the 1830s. The land on which the Oakwood homestead now stands was originally granted to John Ingle who arrived in Van Dieman’s Land in 1804. Oakwood is a private residence.

We then turned off the Midland Highway into the little town of Kempton. I had read a lot about this quaint little town on the internet and it was a must see for us. Kempton is is an early colonial settlement with numerous historic buildings. Kempton has been classified as an historic town.

By 1814 European settlers had arrived in the area and they named the district Green ponds due to its green ponds. In 1816 Anthony Fenn Kemp, a soldier-merchant settled in the area. He acquired 4,100 acres of land and developed a wool industry in the area, along with breeding horses and cattle. He also introduced a North American variety of corn.

It was due to Kemp that in the 1840s the settlement became known as Kemp Town, and later Kempton.

Our first stop was the old whisky distillery which is located in Dysart House, an old sandstone coaching in which was built in 1841. It was used as a coach staging post for travellers during their journey between Hobart and Launceston. Dysart House contains 22 rooms.

We then had a look at the Little Quoin Rivulet bridge at Kempton. It can be located at the northern end of Kempton’s main street, not far from the Midlands Highway. The bridge was constructed in 1840 by a convict road gang which included 88 Americans and Canadians. They had been transported to Van Diemen’s Land for the part they played in the failed uprisings against British rule in
Upper Canada during 1837 and 1838.

We then drove back into the main street of Kempton to admire some more of the heritage buildings. This included the WIlmot Arms Inn which was built in 1844 by convicts. It operated as a licenced inn until 1897. Kent Cottage was built in 1843 and is reportedly the oldest shop in Kempton. It was used as a grocery, drapery and ironmongery. The Green Ponds Probation Station was established in 1828 as part of a number of military posts in Tasmania established by Governor Arthur. It was used as a post to protect European settlers from the local aboriginal tribes.

We then drove on to the equally historic town of Oatlands. It was lunch time, so we stopped in at The Pancake and Crepe shop and had a magnificent lunch including a devonshire tea.

After lunch we commenced our exploration of the town and its many historic buildings. Oatlands has the largest collection of sandstone Georgian houses in Australia. A total of 138 sandstone buildings can be found in Oatlands, with 87 of those in Oatlands main street. 

In June 1821, Major General Lachlan Macquarie, the Governor of New South Wales, visited the area. He recognised the present site of the town of Oatlands as a “a most eligible situation for a town”. He named it Oatlands in honour of the Duke of York. Oatlands was the name of the seat of the Duke of York in Surrey.

Above:- Major General Lachlan Macquarie. Image c/o Wikipedia.

During our walk around the town we visited the Commissariat Store and Guard House which was built in 1827. This is one of the oldest buildings in the Military precinct of Oatlands. This building was built of stone, unlike many of the early buildings in Oatlands which were constructed using timber. This was because of the stores which were housed in the building which needed to be protected from thieves.

The Oatlands Court House was built by convicts in 1829. It was originally constructed as a Chapel and Police Office. In 1835 more rooms were added to the building. It was used as a Supreme Court and is one of the oldest Supreme Court Houses in Australia.

A number of death sentences were handed out in the court, however, all but eighteen were later commuted to life sentences. These men were executed in the nearby gaol. Solomon Blay was the executioner for Oatlands, Launceston and Hobart. He resided in Oatlands.

We then visited the old Oatlands Gaol. Work commenced on the construction of the gaol in 1827. The first Oatlands Gaol was constructed of logs which were hauled to the site by bullock teams. In 1834 work commenced on the new gaol. Two years later it was completed. A total of 2,000 loads of stones were used to complete the structure which was built by a total of 68 convicts. The gaol was closed in 1863.

Sadly the 1930s saw the demolition of the majority of the gaol.

Next was Callington Mill on Old Mill Lane. The mill was built in 1836 by John Vincent who had arrived in Hobart Town in 1823. It is the only working Lincolnshire style windmills in the Southern Hemisphere.

We then viewed numerous other historic buildings in the town including Lake Frederick Inn which was built in 1834 by George Atkinson. In 1836 the name of the Inn was changed to Dulverton Inn and in 1853 it was known as the White Horse Inn. Oatlands Lodge was built in the 1830s as a private residence. It later became a girl’s school and a shop.

We then continued north on the Midlands Highway to the town of Ross. In 1821, Governor Macquarie was on his second journey through Van Dieman’s Land. He decided on a new settlement in the area and called it Ross in honour of the name of the home of his friend H.M. Buchanan who lived on Loch Lomond in Scotland.

Our first visit in Ross was the site of the Ross Female Factory. It was originally used as a male road gang station. Between 1848 and 1854 the buildings were used as a probation station housing between 60 to 120 female convicts at any one time. In the 1880s the prison was demolished leaving the foundations intact. The original Overseers Cottage also remains.

We then headed back into the town of Ross to admire the numerous historic buildings. There are over 40 heritage buildings in the town of Ross.

The Ross Uniting Church is a traditional gothic style sandstone church which was opened in 1885. The church was hand carved sandstone walls, Tasmanian blackwood pews, an oregon ceiling, an Italian marble front, and stained glass windows.

We also visited the Tasmanian Wool Centre which apart from being the largest retailer of woollens in the state, has an excellent museum detailing the history of Ross.

Our final piece of sightseeing in Ross was the Ross bridge, a magnificent stone bridge which was built by convicts in 1836. It is the third oldest bridge in Australia. The bridge was designed by John Lee Archer and was constructed under the orders of Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur. The stonemasonry and carvings on the bridge are the work of Daniel Herbert and James Colbeck. Herbert had been sentenced to death for highway robbery, but his sentence was commuted to transportation for life. He arrived in Van Dieman’s Land in 1827. Both Herbert and Colbeck were freed upon completion of the bridge.

After finishing our sightseeing at Ross we headed back to Oatlands and headed to the Lake Dulverton Conservation Area VKFF-2907 on the edge of the town.

Above:- An aerial view of the Lake Dulverton Conservation Area. Image c/o Google maps

The Lake Dulverton Conservation Area is about 232 hectares in size and comprises Lake Dulverton and sections of the foreshore. It was gazetted as a Conservation Area in 1999, being formerly known as the Lake Dulverton Wildlife Sanctuary. The park is an important habitat for birdlife. Over 105 bird species have been recorded in the park. It is a known breeding area for the rare Great Crested Grebe

We operated from Lairmairenepair Park and the site of the former Flax Mill site which is located on Freds Point headland.

Above:- An aerial view of the park showing our operating spot. Image c/o Google Earth.

Lairmairenepair takes its name from the Big River tribe of aboriginals who lands encompassed the Oatlands district. During World War Two the flax mill was established by the Australian Federal Government. It was part of the Oatland’s district war effort. In April 1941 construction of the site office, men’s mess room, store rooms, deseeding shed and scutching shed was completed. Between 1941 and 1945 a total of 132 people were employed at the flax mill. Flax was grown at Oatlands, Ross and Bothwell and was brought to the mill for processing.

We strung out the 20/40/80m dipole for this activation and ran the Yaesu FT857d and 40 watts output.

Marija made the following QSOs on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. Vk3DCQ
3. VK2HHA
4. VK5HS
5. VK2MET
6. VK1AO
7. Vk5PE
8. VK5BJE
9. VK3ZPF
10. VK2NP
11. VK2IO

I made the following QSOs on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. Vk3DCQ
3. VK2HHA
4. VK5HS
5. VK2MET
6. VK1AO
7. VK5PE
8. VK5BJE
9. VK3ZPF
10. VK2NP
11. VK2IO
12. VK3EJ
13. VK3VIN
14. VK5FANA
15. VK2EXA
16. VK3AMO
17. VK3ACZ
18. VK3SPX
19. VK1DI
20. VK5CZ
21. VK4TJ
22. VK7XX
23. VK5FB
24. VK3AHR
25. VK1AAF
26. KG5CIK
27. ZL3MR
28. VK4NH
29. VK4DXA
30. VK2VW
31. VK2HFI
32. VK3LF/m
33. VK4CZ
34. VK5WU
35. VK2KCT
36. VK4GJP
37. VK3STV
38. VK1PDW

I made the following QSOs on 20m SSB:-

1. VK5KLV
2. VK4TJ
3. VK4XCS
4. VK7FI
5. VK5AAR
6. VK4CZ
7. IK4IDF
8. IW2BNA
9. IW2NXI
10. ZL3VW

We packed up and headed back into Hobart and went out for tea that night in the restaurant at our accomodation.

References.

1. Aussie Towns, 2022, <https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/kempton-tas>, viewed 28th December 2022.
2. Aussie Towns, 2022, <https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/oatlands-tas>, viewed 28th December 2022.
3. Aussie Towns, 2022, <https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/ross-tas>, viewed 28th December 2022.
4. Bagdad Tasmania, 2022, <http://www.bagdadtashistory.com/historic-buildings-bagdad-tasmania/oakwood-bagdad-tasmania.html>, viewed 27th December 2022.
5. eBird, 2022, <https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1479677>, viewed 28th December 2022.
6. Find and Connect, 2022, <http://www.bagdadtashistory.com/historic-buildings-bagdad-tasmania/oakwood-bagdad-tasmania.html>, viewed 27th December 2022.
7. Heritage Tasmania, Tasmanian Heritage Council.
8. Hobart and Beyond, 2022, <https://hobartandbeyond.com.au/blog/9-things-to-do-at-lake-dulverton/>, viewed 28th December 2022.
9. Lake Dulverton and Dulverton Walkway Action Plan, 2021.