Our final activation for Sunday 19th November 2023 was the Wimmera River Marma Streamside Reserve VKFF-3921. The park is located about 31 km east of Horsham and about 284 km northwest of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of the park. Map c/o Google Maps.
The Wimmera River Marma Streamside Reserve is bordered by Burnt Clay Road to the north, and the Horsham-Lubeck Road to the south.
Above:- An aerial view of the Wimmera River Marma Streamside Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth.
The reserve is about 129 hectares in size and was established on the 22nd day of November 1983. (CAPAD 2022) The Wimmera River passes through the park. Mount William Creek is located on the park’s western boundary. It flows into the Wimmera River.
In 1836, the Wimmera River was explored by Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (b. 1792. d. 1855) during his Australia Felix (Happy Australia) expedition of western Victoria. It is believed that Wimmera is an aboriginal word for a throwing stick. The Wimmera River rises in the Pyrenees Range near Ararat and flows northwesterly through Horsham and empties into Lake Hindmarsh near Jeparit. (Victorian Places 2024)
Above:- Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell. Image c/o Wikipedia.
Mitchell did however make an inaccurate deduction regarding the Wimmera River. Whilst near Mount Arapiles in the Grampians he stated:
“Upon the whole, I think that the estuary of the Wimmera will most probably be found either between Cape Bernouilli and Cape Jaffa, or at some of the sandy inlets laid down by Captain Flinders…At all events I here abandoned the pursuit of that river, and determined to turn towards the south-west that we might ascertain what streams fell in that direction from the Grampians and also the nature of the country between these mountains and the shores of the Southern Ocean.” (Gutenberg 2024)
We accessed the park via a dirt track that ran off Burnt Clay Road. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation. I used the special event callsign of VI10VKFF. We had no internet coverage in the park, so we thank those who took the time to spot us on the parksnpeaks website.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK5FR/p (Lashmar Conservation Park VKFF-0902)
VK2YK
VK5GA
VK3PF
VK3KAI
VK3CLD/p (Kosciuszko National Park VKFF-0269)
VK3SG
VK7IAN
VK3MCA
VK4NH
VK4DXA
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK5FR/p (Lashmar Conservation Park VKFF-0902)
VK2YK
VK5GA
VK3PF
VK3KAI
VK3CLD/p (Kosciuszko National Park VKFF-0269)
VK3SG
VK7IAN
VK3MCA
VK4NH
VK4DXA
VK5AV
VK3BBB
VK2CCP
VK3CEO
VK1AO
VK2MET
VK7HAM
VK3MLT
VK3EI
VK7RA
VK5PL
VK3TDX
ZL4NVW
VK3GRX
VK5HS
VK3MIJ
VK3APJ
VK5HAA
VK3CWF
VK2IO/m
VK5GY
VK2CDB
VK3ANL
Vk1CHW
VK3EMP
VK4TI
VK4SMA
VK1DI
VK3KRL
VK1AAF
KG5CIK
VK2DL
VK2IMP
VK5LA
VK5KAW
I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-
VK4NH
VK4DXA
VK4EMP
VK4TI
VK4ABH
F1BLL
After packing up we headed back to St Arnaud and had a magnificent meal at the Farmers Arms Hotel.
After leaving Murtoa (Sunday 19th November 2023), Marija and I drove south to our next activation of the day, the Barrabool Flora & Fauna Reserve VKFF-2263. The park is located about 11 km south of Murtoa and about 295 km northwest of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Barrabool Flora & Fauna Reserve. Map c/o Google Maps.
The reserve is also often referred to as the Barabool Nature Conservation Reserve, the Barrabool Forest Reserve, and the Barrabool State Forest. Its northern border is Sawpit Swamp Road, the eastern border is Barrabool Road, and to the south and west is Burnt Clay Road.
Above:- An aerial view of the park. Image c/o Google Earth.
Parks Victoria has a webpage for the park but contains no information about it besides a park boundary image. The Barrabool Flora and Fauna Reserve is 1,035 hectares in size and was established on the 22nd day of September 1987. (CAPAD 2022)
Above:- An aerial view of the park looking towards Murtoa. Image c/o Google Maps.
There is also a Barrabool near Geelong. Barrabool is an aboriginal word meaning oyster. Other alternative meanings include slope down to water. (Blake 1978) Before European settlement, the land was occupied by the Jaadwa aboriginal people. In the reserve, you can find several trees which were cut by the Jaadwa people. (Aussie Towns 2024)
During our activation of the park we had an inquisitive Diamond Firetail finch. Unfortunately, it was quite nervous and would not sit still for a good photograph.
We accessed the park via Barrabool Road. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole supported on the 7-metre heavy-duty telescopic squid pole. I sued the special event callsign of VI10VKFF for this activation.
It was just a short drive from the Murtoa silo to our next silo activation, the Murtoa North silo VK-MRU3. This silo complex is located on Thomas Road on the northeastern side of Murtoa.
Although very impressive and probably from an art perspective, one of my favourite silos, Marija and I were disappointed about its location. The best view can be obtained from the Water Tower Museum.
The silo art was completed in April 2023 and is the work of Sam Bates, @ Smug. His inspiration was the James Hill taxidermy collection in Murtoa. A total of thirty birds can be seen on the silo. One of those birds glows at night to represent the one in thirty Australians who suffer from mental health issues. This part of the silo art relates to Dr John Cade, a psychiatrist who was born in Murtoa. (Australian Silo Art 2024)
John Frederick Joseph Cade AO (b. 1912. d. 1980), was an Australian psychiatrist. In 1948 he discovered the effects of lithium carbonate as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of bipolar disorder. (News.com.au 2024)
Above:- Dr. John Cade. Image c/o Wikipedia.
We parked on Thomas Road adjacent to the silo and operated from the 4WD running the Icon IC-7000, 200 watts, and the Coadn 9350 antenna with the 1.5-metre stainless steel whip.
Above:- The activation zone at the Murtoa North silo. Image c/o SiOTA website.
The drive from Big Tottington to our next activation at Murtoa was 67 km in distance and took us through Marnoo and Rupanyup. Murtoa is about 295 km northwest of the city of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of Murtoa in Victoria. Map c/o Google Maps.
The Murtoa district is the traditional land of the Jardwe aboriginal people. Murtoa is an aboriginal word meaning ‘home of the lizard’. The town contains Lake Marma. Marma is an aboriginal word meaning ‘wild duck. Jardwe people were still present in the area when European settlement commenced. Eventually most were relocated to Ebenezer Mission at Antwerp and then to Lake Tyers in Victoria. (Murtoa Progress Association 2024).
Major Thomas Mitchell traversed the Wimmera River in 1836 and reportedly favourably on the land for farming. European settlement of the area commenced in the 1840s and 1850s with large pastoral station leases. In early 1844 the land was squatted upon by two Scotsmen Dugald McPherson and William Taylor. Their run comprised 206,000 acres (83,366 hectares) with 33,000 sheep. They were the first pastoralists north of Glenorchy in Victoria. (Australian Dictionary of Biography 2024) (Murtoa Museum 2024) (Murtoa Progress Association 2024).
McPherson and Taylor encountered problems with local aboriginal people from 1844 to 1845. The Argus, Melbourne, dated Friday 17th August 1934, reported:-
“As many as 30 per cent of the sheep were destroyed by aborigines.”
In 1848 McPherson and Taylor subdivided their holding, with Taylor’s portion known as Longerenong. Taylor retained the lease on Longerenong until 1856 when he sold it to Sir Samuel Wilson. (Australian Dictionary of Biography 2024)
I found the story of McPherson and Taylor to be extremely interesting.
Dugald McPherson was born in September 1820 in Argyllshire, Scotland. He arrived in Victoria in 1840 with his brother Peter. He went on to develop very large landholdings in northwestern Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. He was the Chief of the Highland Society of Ballarat and an elder of the Presbyterian Church. He formed the Australian Club, a private gentlemen’s club in William Street, Melbourne. He was also a councillor in the Ballan Shire. (Museums Victoria 2024)
William Taylor was born in November 1818 in Glasgow, Scotland. Following his arrival in Australia in 1840, he purchased a sheep run near Geelong. He returned to Britain in the 1850s but returned to Australia after three years, purchasing more land. In 1847 he was appointed a Magistrate. He was a member for Wimmera in the Legislative Council. He was the Chairman of the Keilor District Road Board and President of the Shire Council. He was a director in Melbourne of the Union Mortgage and Agency Co, and owned many properties in Melbourne and rural Victoria. (Australian Dictionary of Biography 2024)
Above:- William Taylor. Image c/o The Argus, Fri 17 Aug 1934, Trove.
Prior to 1870, the Murtoa district was known as Marma Gully. Following the Land Act of 1869, many families of Prussian (German) origin journeyed to the Wimmera district between 1871 and 1872. (Aussie Towns 2024)
The Australasian, Melbourne, dated Saturday 31st January 1885, reported:-
“The Land Act of South Australia did not offer the same inducements to settlers as the Victorian act of 1869, and hence a large number of Germans, bringing with them their horses, waggons, double-fur-rw ploughs, and stripping machines, came across the border, and spread themselves over the Wimmera district, the vicinity of Lake Marma attracting a large number of the settlers.” (Farming on the Wimmera 1885)
In 1871 Ernest Boehm from the Bremmer in South Australia travelled to the Wimmera and selected land. In October 1871, Boehm was camping on the Penola Road when he encountered another group of Mount Gambier farmers who were heading to Narracoorte to look for land. They were Herman Paul Anders (b. 1841. d. 1930), Johann Heinrich ‘Martin’ Uhe (b. 1813. d. 1900), Heinrich Friedrich ‘Fred’ Conrad Gottleib Degenhardt (b. 1821. d. 1893) and Gustav Julius Wilhelm Degenhardt (b. 1829. d. 1908). Boehm informed them that it was no good going there as he had been there, and he informed them about the Wimmera. They accompanied Boehm to land at Lake Natimuk, but they found the land unsuitable. (Doncaster Hist Society 2024)
In the Dunmunkle Standard Newspaper in 1925 Anders stated:
“On reaching Mount Arapiles we camped at Jackie-Jackie. There a couple of swaggies came over to us and asked for tea, and one of them, an old grey headed man said: ‘I suppose you are looking for land; what will you give if I lay you on to some good country, all open plain, no timber, no stones, you can put the plough into it and work away – there is a nice lake with plenty of water and plenty wildfowl on it. I have been shepherding there for 17 years, and the lake never went dry. The information is worth 5 pounds?. I will direct you and if it is not what I say, don’t pay me anything.'”
The swaggie then instructed them on how to reach Marma Gully. Gustav Degenhardt told the swaggie he would pay him 10 pounds if he told them where this land was, and would pay a further 5 pounds if they found the land as he described when they got there. The swaggie then instructed them on how to reach Marma Gully. (Doncaster Hist Society 2024)
The four men were joined by Hermann Volprecht and they departed Jackie Jackie. They called in on Robert Clark, a store-keeper at Horsham who advised he knew of a boundary rider on Longererong Station called Harry Friend, who was willing to take them to Marma Gully and who had already selected land there. Upon arriving at Marma Gully they found only one house, a shepherd’s hut. They camped alongside Friend’s tent. (Doncaster Hist Society 2024)
Following their inspection of the land, they drew lots for land. Uhe went first as he was the eldest. Each of the gentlemen then pegged a block of land. In December the men returned to Mount Gambier to tender their crops. In February they returned to Marma Gully with their families in waggons with sack tents over the waggons. Upon approaching Natimuk in western Victoria they encountered heavy rain making the roads boggy. To reduce the work on the horses, the women and children walked through the mud. Ander’s mother-in-law is reported to have said ‘Oh what a terrible country you are taking us to.‘ (Doncaster Hist Society 2024)
Anders, Uhe and Fred Degenhardt and their families arrived at Marma Gully on the 16th day of March 1872. Gustav Degenhardt, Volprecht and Hoff arrived 6-8 weeks later with their families. Many of the settlers lived in tents and the area was known as the Calico Township. (Doncaster Hist Society 2024)
In the Dunmunkle Standard Newspaper in 1925 Anders stated:
“One day we had a visit from the old shepherd whom we met at Jackie Jackie, and who told us about Marma Gully. Of course, he found us settled there, and he came for his five-pound note. We clubbed together and he got his money according to promise, as we could thank Tommy-that’s what we called him-that we found Marma Gully.'”
Above:- Article from the Hamilton Spectator, Sat 30 Aug 1873. Image c/o Trove.
In 1873 the township of Marma Gully was surveyed around the swamp by T.H. Breen. Following its establishment as a town, more settlers came to the area and soon Murtoa was a prosperous grain town. Soon after it was renamed Murtoa by Walter Madden, the Land Officer in Horsham. By 1878 the main Melbourne railway line had reached Murtoa and this increased the prosperity of the town. (Murtoa Museum 2024) (Murtoa Facebook page 2024) (Murtoa Progress Association 2024).
Above:- Plan of the township of Murtoa. Image c/o State Library Victoria.
A combined Town Hall, church, and school was built in 1873. The Commercial Hotel was built in 1874. In 1876 a flour mill was opened. In 1877 the Commercial Bank opened a branch at Murtoa. On the 1st day of December 1878, the first edition of the Dunmunkle Standard newspaper was printed. In 1880 the Murtoa Urban Fire Brigade was formed. The following year, 1881, the Murtoa & Central Wimmera Agricultural and Pastoral Society was formed and the first show was held. In 1884 the Murtoa Post Office was opened. Before this mail came via the hotel at Longerong, a farm, and then Anderson’s store in Murtoa. In 1898 the Murtoa Football Club which had been formed about 10 years earlier, won its first premiership. (Murtoa Facebook 2024) (Murtoa Museum 2024)
Above:- Article from the Hamilton Spectator, Sat 20 Aug 1881. Image c/o Trove.
The population of Murtoa grew quickly and expansion of farming worked in the direction of Coromby, Minyip, Rupanyup, Ashens and Yarriambiack Creek.
Murtoa is a beautiful little town situated alongside Lake Marma. It contains numerous historic buildings and is definitely worth visiting and spending some time exploring the town.
We had our lunch on the banks of Lake Marma, enjoying the view and the beautiful sunny day. The lake is regarded as one of the most picturesque lakes in the Wimmeara district of Victoria.
We then visited the old Murtoa Railway Station at the end of Hamilton Street. On the 17th day of December 1878, the station was opened by Mr Woods, the Minister of Railways. The station became a temporary terminus for the main western railway line until 1879 when the line was extended to Horsham. In 1886 a branch line from Murtoa was opened to Warracknabeal and in 1894 a branch line was opened to Patchewollock. Due to the increasing number of trains passing through Murtoa, extensions were made to the locomotive yards and an engine shed, coal stage and a large water tower were constructed. The Railway Hotel opposite the station was also opened. By the late 1890s a new platform was built and a footbridge was constructed. (Murtoa Museum 2024)
Above:- The Murtoa Railway Station, c. 1913. Image c/o flickr.
During the 1980s and 1990s passenger and freight services to Murtoa were removed. The Murtoa railway station commenced to fall into a state of disrepair. In 2018 the station was fully restored as a result of the Murtoa District Historical Society and Vic Track’s Community Use Program. (Murtoa Museum 2024)
Other than the Silo Art on the second set of silos in Murtoa, you can also view the mural near the Murtoa Recreation Reserve.
We then headed to the Murtoa Stick Shed. This was our main reason for venturing out to Murtoa. Marija and I had heard about this place and had always wanted to visit. We were not disappointed. It is one of those places that you have to visit to appreciate its magnificence.
The Stick Shed is also known as the Murtoa No. 1 Grain Store. It is the only remaining emergency grain store that was constructed during the Second World War. It was completed in 1942. It is about 265 metres long, 60 metres wide and 19 metres high. It could hold 3.5 million bushels or about 92,500 tonnes of wheat. It is referred to by some as the ‘Cathedral of the Wimmera’. (The Stick Shed 2024)
Below is a great video about the Murtoa Stick Shed. As one of the narrators says:
‘from outside it’s just a tin shed, and inside, well it just took your breath away.’
Just behind the Murtoa Stick Shed are the Murtoa silos VK-MRA3. They are operated by GrainCorp.
Marija and I parked on Crams Road just off the Wimmera Highway. We operated from the 4WD running the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 antenna with the 1.5-metre stainless steel whip.
Above:- the activation zone at the Murtoa silo. Image c/o SiOTA website.
VK5PAS 