Marija and I left the Tatyoon silo and headed to Stonleigh in Victoria where we planned to activate the Stonleigh silo VK-STH3 and the Salt Lagoon Wongon Wildlife Reserve VKFF-2433. Stoneleigh is about 187 km (by road) northwest of the city of Melbourne.

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

The Salt Lagoon Wongon Wildlife Reserve is not to be confused with Lake Wongan Wildlife Reserve. Salt Lagoon WR is located on Mount William Road, while Lake Wongan WR is located a little further to the south on the eastern side of Eurambeen – Streatham Road. The Lake Wongan WR currently is not listed with the VKFF program.

The Salt Lake Wongon Wildlife Reserve is 24 acres in size and was gazetted on the 22nd day of November 1983.

The park is located within the activation zone of the Stoneleigh silo.

Above:- the activation zone at the Stoneleigh silo. Image c/o SiOTA website.

The park appears to be surrounded by farming land. However, there is a small section accessible on the western side of Mount William Road.

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

The Stoneleigh silo is a working silo and is run by CHS Broadbent, a grain marketing, logistics, storage, and export company.

The park is located in a district called Yalla-Y-Poora, while the silo across the road is located in the district of Stonleigh.

Yalla-Y-Poora is believed to be aboriginal for trees by water. The land was taken up by squatters Thompson and Stevens in 1841. They had made a five-month journey from Yass in New South Wales to overland their sheep on the banks of Fiery Creek. By 1854 the property had been sold to James Austin. In 1856 he sold the property to Jeremiah Ware. Jeremiah and his brothers John and Joseph had moved from Tasmania to establish their sheep property. Yalla-Y-Poora consisted of 66,493 acres.

The original Yalla-Y-Poora homestead was built in 1857. The property at its peak ran 60,000 sheep. It took the shearing team in the 20-stand shed a total of 2 months to complete the annual clip. The station buildings included a Manager’s cottage, and a Coach house and Stables.

Above:- Yalla-Y-Poora homestead. Image c/o State Library Victoria

After our activation, we drove to have a look at the Yalla-Y-Poora homestead, but it is set a long way off the road so we were unable to get a glimpse of this magnificent homestead.

Austrian-born artist Eugene von Guerard was a friend of the Ware family and frequently visited Yalla-Y-Poora station, and painted many works during his visits. One of those paintings was completed in 1864 and shows the Yalla-Y-Poora homestead and the shearing shed.

Above:- Yalla-Y-Poora, 1864. Image c/o https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/

The Yalla-Y-Poora property holding diminished in size over the years due to the Lands Act of 1862, land taxes in the 1890s, and soldier settlement following both the First and Second World Wars. In 1924 a world record was set from wool from the Yalla-Y-Poora flock. During the 1950s and 1960s, the last descendant of the Ware family declared bankruptcy and the Yalla-Y-Poora property was sold.

Stoneleigh also has a homestead. It commenced its life as a flat-roofed weatherboard cottage during the 1840s. In about 1864 the cottage was incorporated into a house for William Lewis, and in 18876 a two-storey addition was added to the rear of the home. The original 1840s cottage is the entrance to the homestead.

Above:- Stoneleigh homestead. Image c/o State Library Victoria.

Marija and I pulled off the side of the road and ran out the 20/40/80m linked dipole. As it was a cold day we decided to operate from within the 4WD. We used the Yaesu FT-857 and 40 watts output.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSN:-

1. VK4SMA/p (Conondale Conservation Park VKFF-1513)
2. VK7XX
3. VK2EXA
4. VK5HS
5. VK4TJ
6. VK2IO
7. VK3CM
8. VK3SQ
9. VK3AHR
10. VK4HAT
11. VK5DW

Marija worked the following station on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4TJ

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK4SMA/p (Conondale Conservation Park VKFF-1513)
2. VK7XX
3. VK2EXA
4. VK5HS
5. VK4TJ
6. VK2IO
7. VK3CM
8. VK3SQ
9. VK3AHR
10. VK4HAT
11. VK5DW
12. VK5FANA
13. VK7HBR
14. VK2PKT
15. VK5BJE
16. VK5KBJ

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5BJE
2. VK5HS
3. VK5KBJ
4. VK5DW
5. VK3PF
6. VK3SQ
7. VK3OF

I worked the following station on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4TJ

References.

1. Australian Country Magazine, 2023, <https://www.australiancountry.com.au/homes-gardens/homes-interiors/bluestone-benchmark/>, viewed 30th March 2023.
2. CAPAD 2022.
3. Heritage Council Victoria, 2023, <https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/67333>, viewed 30th March 2023.
4. Western Districts Families Facebook page, 2023, <https://www.facebook.com/WesternDistrictFamilies>, viewed 30th March 2023.