Our final activation for Sunday 12th November 2023 was the Linga School South Bushland Reserve VKFF-4167. The reserve is located about halfway in between the towns of Cowangie and Underbool in northwest Victoria.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Linga School South Bushland Reserve. Map c/o Google Maps.
This was the first time that the park had been activated for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.
Linga is an aboriginal word meaning home or camp. (Blake 1977) Linga once once a thriving township. It had a Farmers Association, a cricket team, a tennis club, and a football team (1917 Linga). The Linga Hall even hosted dance evenings for the ‘Underbool Queen.’ (1923 Linga)
Above:- Plan of the township of Linga. Image c/o State Library Victoria.
The Linga South State School (No. 4460) opened on 30 January 1930 and closed in 1949. (1930 Mallee School News)
Above:- Article from the Ouyen Mail, Wed 9 Apr 1930. Image c/o Trove.
The Post Office opened in 1913 and was originally known as Manpy. In 1939 it was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt. It closed in 1975. (Phoenix 2024) (1939 Linga)
Above:- Article from the Sunraysia Daily, Mildura, Wed 1 Feb 1939. Image c/o Trove
Sadly as was the case with many small towns, the First World War took its toll and many young men were lost.
Above:- Article from the Pinnaroo and Border Times, Fri 29 Jun 1917. Image c/o Trove.
By the time we reached the park, it was almost dark. But it was a beautiful warm evening and we enjoyed the sunset as we set up our gear comprising the Yaesy FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole.
The park is about 9 hectares in size and was established on the 8th day of May 1990 (CAPAD 2022). The Parks Victoria website has a page regarding the reserve, but it contains no information other than a park boundary map. The park is divided into three sections, on the northern and southern sides of Stock Route Road. The park did not appear to be signposted. It is just a very small piece of remnant mallee scrub surrounded by cleared farming land. There were no visible signs of the school.
We worked a total of 64 stations on 40m SSB before packing up and heading back to our accommodation at Murrayville. It had been a great day with lots of park activations.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK4SMA
- VK5LA
- VK5KAW
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
- VK5FANA
- VK5GY
- VK2HHA
- VK3BEL
- VK1AO
- VK2MET
- VK2IO/p (Turriff Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2466)
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK4SMA
- VK5LA
- VK5KAW
- VK3PF
- VK3KAI
- VK5FANA
- VK5GY
- VK2HHA
- VK3BEL
- VK1AO
- VK2MET
- VK2IO/p (Turriff Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2466)
- VK3BBB
- VK2CCP
- VK2EXA
- VK3MTT
- VK3UH
- VK2YAK
- VK4YAK
- VK2WE
- VK2LWK
- VK3APJ
- VK3EJ
- VK5KLV
- VK3YV
- VK3OF
- VK3AMO
- VK2NP
- VK3CEO
- VK2KET
- VK2ADF
- VK2YK
- VK5GA
- VK5HW
- VK2LAG
- VK3DWL
- ZL3ASN
- VK4ABK
- VK5ZX
- VK3ACZ
- VK1CHW
- VK4HMI
- VK6XN
- VK2HRX
- VK4EMP
- VK4TI
- VY2JC
- VK4HG
- VK4BR
- VK3VY
- VK5VK
- VK5DW
References.
- 1917 ‘LINGA.’, Farmers’ Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1917 – 1924), 22 June, p. 2. , viewed 18 Jan 2024, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223599664>
- 1923 ‘LINGA.’, Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 – 1954), 8 February, p. 32. , viewed 18 Jan 2024, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171246092>
- 1930 ‘MALLEE SCHOOL NEWS’, Ouyen Mail (Vic. : 1915 – 1941), 9 April, p. 2. , viewed 18 Jan 2024, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article269647309>
- 1939 ‘LINGA’, Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 – 1949), 1 February, p. 6. , viewed 18 Jan 2024, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article268410035>
- Blake; L, 1977, Place Names of Victoria, Rigby Limited, Melbourne
- Australian Government, 2024, CAPAD 2022, viewed 18th January 2024, <https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad>
- Phoenix Auctions, 2024, Post Office List, viewed 18th January 2024, <https://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Linga*>
- Wikipedia, 2024, Linga, viewed 18th January 2024, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linga,_Victoria>, viewed
VK5PAS 