St Arnaud Regional Park VKFF-0977

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Our first activation for Monday 20th November 2023 was the St Arnaud Regional Park VKFF-0977. Marija and I activated this park on Sunday 19th November and we wanted to pick up a few more QSOs from this park to reach the 44 QSOs required to qualify the park for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

We had a cooked breakfast in St Arnaud and then headed out to the lookout at the park.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK2VAR/p (Triplarina Nature Reserve VKFF-2746)
  2. VK3UAO/p (Snowy River National Park VKFF-0455)
  3. VK5DG/p (Telford Scrub Conservation Park VKFF-0805)

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3SQ
  2. Vk2BD
  3. VK5HS
  4. VK3PF
  5. VK3KAI
  6. VK3CA
  7. VK5IS
  8. VK3BBB
  9. VK2CCP
  10. VK2VAR/p (Triplarina Nature Reserve VKFF-2746)
  11. VK3APJ
  12. VK2DG
  13. VK1DI
  14. VK3CEO
  15. VK3UAO/p (Snowy River National Park VKFF-0455)
  16. VK3YV
  17. VK3ZSC
  18. VK3HM
  19. VK5KVA
  20. VK1AAF
  21. VK3AHR
  22. VK3CBP
  23. VK5DG/p (Telford Scrub Conservation Park VKFF-0805)
  1. VK3UAO/p

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

  1. VK4NH
  2. VK4DXA
  3. VK1AO
  4. VK2MET

I worked the following stations on 15m SSB:-

  1. VK4NH
  2. VK4DXA
  3. VK4ABK

I managed to pick up enough stations to get me over the line with 44 QSOs. We then visited The Wax Garden at St Arnaud. Unfortunately, it was not the right time of the year to visit this 3.9-hectare park. During October there is a profusion of Fair Wax flowers. A total of 70 native flower species have been recorded in the Wax Gardens. Despite the lack of flowers, we enjoyed a nice walk around the park. (Aussie Towns 2024) 

We then drove to Bell Rock which is within the St Arnaud Regional Park. The area was formerly known as Sebastopol Hill and since the 1850s the area has been mined for silver and gold and used for eucalyptus oil extraction. Bell Rock is named for its distinctive shape. This area was underwater about 540 million years ago. (Geocaching 2024)

Whilst at Bell Rock we logged a Park to Park contact with Stuart VK3UAO.

Marija worked the following station on 40m SSB after the UTC rollover:-

  1. VK3UAO/p (Snowy River National Park VKFF-0455)

I worked the following station on 40m SSB after the UTC rollover:-

  1. VK3UAO/p (Snowy River National Park VKFF-0455)

Our next stop was Loves Cottage in St Arnaud, one of the earliest miner’s properties in the town. It was originally built in 1868 with layers of flat stones from a nearby mine, constructed by John Tyson (b. 1843. d. 1901) with the assistance of William Thompson. The property was later owned by Robert Love (b. 1853. d. 1926) who built a blacksmith shop and stables on the property. In 1985 the property was bequeathed to the National Trust following the death of Robert Love’s daughter-in-law, Ethel Love. (Heritage Council 2024)

We then headed off to our next activation at the Carapooee Creek Streamside Reserve.

References.

  1. Bibliophile (2014). Wimmera…way back when: In Love with the cottage. [online] Wimmera…way back when. Available at: https://wimmera-w-b-w.blogspot.com/2014/12/in-love-with-cottage.html [Accessed 24 Feb. 2024].
  2. ‌Francis, G. (n.d.). St Arnaud, VIC. [online] Aussie Towns. Available at: https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/st-arnaud-vic.‌ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2024].
  3. Geocaching (n.d.). Geocaching – The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site. [online] http://www.geocaching.com. Available at: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5E6TK [Accessed 24 Feb. 2024].‌
  4. Vic.gov.au. (2017). VHD. [online] Available at: https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/. [Accessed 24 Feb. 2024].‌‌

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