After leaving Karoonda I continued northeast on the Karoonda Highway. I stopped briefly to have a look at the cairn to commemorate the pioneer settlers who established the Lowaldie settlement.

Blink nowadays and you will miss Lowaldie. It is located about 11 km northeast of Karoonda. The town was proclaimed on the 2nd day of April 1914. The Lowaldie Post Office was opened in 1917 and closed in 1969. The Lowaldie school opened in 1922 and closed in 1940. Lowaldie is an aboriginal name meaning ‘summer’.

I continued on through the tiny towns of Borrika and Sandalwood and then Halidon.

Borrika is an aboriginal word meaning ‘a stranger’s hut’. Borrika was proclaimed on the 2nd day of April 1914. The Borrika school opened in 1915 and closed in 1941.

Above:- town plan of Borrika. Image c/o Trove.

Sandalwood was proclaimed as a town on the 9th day of April 1914. It takes its name from the Sandalwood trees which are common in the area. The Sandalwood school opened in 1919 and closed in 1944.

Above:- Town plan of Sandalwood. Image c/o Trove.

Halidon is located about 37 km northeast of Karoonda. It was named after Halidon Hill, the site of a victory over the Scots by the army of King Edward III. It was surveyed by A. Thomas in February 1914 and was proclaimed on the 25th day of June 1914. The Halidon school opened in 1918 and closed in 1966.

After leaving Halidon I stopped at the Goyders Line monument on the Karoonda Highway

Goyder’s Line is an ‘imaginary’ line that runs east to west across South Australia. The line joins places that have an average rainfall of 250 mm (10 inches). Anywhere north of Goyders Line has an annual rainfall that generally is too low to support cropping and only suitable for grazing. The line also indicates a change in the vegetation, with the land to the south comprising mostly mallee scrub, whilst to the north of Goyder’s Line saltbush is the primary vegetation.

Above:- Goyder’s Line. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The line takes its name from Surveyor General George Goyder. In 1865 he was asked to map South Australia with areas receiving reliable rainfall and those in drought. In November 1865, Goyder travelled about 3,200 on horseback across South Australia. On the 6th day of December 1865, Goyder submitted his report and map to the South Australian colonial government. His map included the demarcation line. Goyder recommended that farmers not planted crops north of the line and used that land only for light grazing.

Above:- George Goyder. Image /o Wikipedia.

I then reached the little town of Wanbi, about 157 km from Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of Wanbi. Map c/o Google maps.

Wanbi is an aboriginal word meaning ‘dingo’. The town of Wanbi was proclaimed on the 9th day of July 1914.

Sadly not much remains in Wanbi today. The old Wanbi Memorial hall built in 1925 is in a state of disrepair, and the beautiful two-storey former hotel is closed.

Whilst in Wanbi, I activated the Wanbi silo for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program. I operated from the gate leading to the silo and operated from the 4WD.

Above:- the activation zone at the Wambi silo. Image c/o SioTA website.

I ran the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 930 self-tuning antenna mounted on the rear of the 4WD.

I made the following contacts on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3AHR
2. VK3PF
3. VK3ZSC
4. VK5FANA
5. VK5CZ
6. VK3NBL

I made the following contacts on 20m SSB:-

1. VK1AO
2. VK2MET
3. VK4EW
4. VK3PF

I made the following QSO on 15m SSB:-

1. VK4EW

With 11 QSOs in the log, I headed to my next silo activation at Alawoona.

References.

1. A Compendium of the Place Names of South Australia, 2023, <https://published.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/placenamesofsouthaustralia/>, viewed 1st February 2023.
2. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goyder%27s_Line> viewed 1st February 2023.