Waikerie silo VK-WKE5

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It was now Tuesday 31st October 2023 and time for us to head home after a brilliant time in the Riverland. This included the 2023 VKFF National Get Together which was a resounding success.

After having breakfast in Renmark, we stopped at Wilabalangaoo Reserve which is owned by National Trust South Australia. Hans and I went for a walk through the Reserve which sadly does not qualify for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. Wilabalangaloo covers 92 hectares on the western bank of the River Murray between Renmark and Berri. Some very impressive views can be had of the ochre-coloured sandstone River Murray cliffs which stretch for about 1 km at this location.

We then stopped briefly in Berri for Hans to enjoy some views of the mighty River Murray.

The Riverland is prime citrus and vineyard country. We stopped to get a bag of oranges.

Our next stop was Lake Bonney at Barmera, a freshwater lake that is fed and drained by the River Murray. The lake was named Lake Bonney by Joseph Hawdon, a pioneer settler and overlander, in honour of his friend, Charles Bonney in 1838.

On the shoreline of the lake, you can find a plaque that commemorates the 1964 attempt by Englishman Donald Campbell to break the world water speed record on Lake Bonney. Lake Bonney proved to be too small and the waves created were deemed to be dangerous. His boat Bluebird reached a speed of 347.5 kmh, however the world record was not broken at Lake Bonney. Later that year, Campbell was successful in breaking the world record at Lake Dumbyleyung, Western Australia, travelling at a speed of 444.7 kmh.

The video below runs for about 15 minutes and is extremely interesting.

We continued west along the Sturt Highway and stopped briefly at the police memorial. On the 7th day of May 1847, Police Corporal William Murray Wickham and Mounted Constable John Dunning Carter drowned while crossing the River Murray at Wigley Reach. They were en route to Overland Corner for police duty in response to disturbances in the area. Wickham and Carter were the first police officers to die in the course of their duty in South Australia.

We then took some time out at the Holder Bend lookout.

We then drove into Waikerie and had a quick look at the Waikerie Cliff Top Walk.

Just down the road is Nippy’s Waikierie, a very well-known South Australian family-run producer of fresh citrus fruit juices and flavoured milk products.

It was then time for a quick silo activation for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program at the Waikerie silo.

The Waikerie Silo Art is the work of Jimmy Dvate and Garry Duncan. They were the fifth silo in South Australia to feature silo art, and the 25th to be included in the Australian Silo Art Trail Collection. THey are unique in that they are the second silo to be painted on both sides, giving a land view and a river view. Various native flora and fauna appear on the silos, including the Rainmoth, which is the origin of the name of Waikerie – many wings in the aboriginal language.

The Waikerie silo art took about 16 weeks to complete along with almost 500 litres of paint. Garry Duncan used exterior enamel paints exclusively, while Jimmy Dvate mainly used aerosol spray cans.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3OAK/p (Turriff Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2466)
  2. VK3PWG/p (Turriff Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2466
  3. VK3PF

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3OAK/p (Turriff Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2466)
  2. VK3PWG/p (Turriff Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2466)
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK5IS
  5. VK3SQ

I worked the following station on 40m AM:-

  1. VK3PWG/p

With silo qualified, we headed for the Waikerie bakery for some lunch.

References.

  1. Australian SIlo Art, 2023, <https://www.australiansiloarttrail.com/waikerie>, viewed 18th December 2023.
  2. Monument Australia, 2023, <https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/culture/sport/display/50429-donald-campbell%60s-water-speed-record-attempt>, viewed 18th December 2023.
  3. National Trust South Australia, 2023, <https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/wilabalangaloo-reserve/>, viewed 18th December 2023.
  4. Nippys, 2023, <https://nippys.com.au/>, viewed 18th December 2023.
  5. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bonney_Riverland>, viewed 18th December 2023.
  6. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hawdon>, viewed 18th December 2023.

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