Yandoit Bushland Reserve VKFF-4280

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The Yandoit Bushland Reserve VKFF-4280 was an unplanned and quick activation for Friday 24th November 2024.

Yandoit is located about 17 km northwest of Daylesford and about 110 km northwest of Melbourne.

Above:- Map showing the location of Yandoit. Map c/o Google Maps.

Yandoit is believed to be an aboriginal word meaning ‘travel’.

The first European settler in the area was John Stuart Hepburn. He was born in 1803 in Scotland and emigrated to Australia.

In 1854 gold was discovered in a gully about 2 km northwest of Yandoit. (Victorian Places 2024)

Above:- An article from The Colonial Mining Journal, Thu 7 Jul 1859. Image c/o Trove.

By the following year, 1855, farm allotments in the district were offered for sale. Many of the settlers in the district were of Swiss-Italian background. One of those was the Gervasoni family who emigrated to Australia in the 1850s. Carlo Gervasoni built the homestead that included wine and cheese cellars, stables and farm buildings. The ruins of their large homestead are on the Victorian Heritage Register. (Victorian Heritage Database 2024) (Victorian Places 2024)

Above:- The Gervasoni homestead. Image c/o Heritage Council Victoria.

Below is an excellent video on the Gervasoni family estate.

In 1861 Yandoit was surveyed. In that same year, a school was opened at Yandoit, and Yandoit’s population was about 232 people. By 1865 Yandoit had four hotels and an estimated population of about 950 people. Yandoit was proclaimed in 1885. (egold 2015) (Victorian Places 2024)

Above:- a plan of the town ship of Yandoit. Image c/o State Library Victoria.

The Yandoit Bushland Reserve is small, comprising just 1.5 acres of remnant bushland. It was established on the 13th day of June 2006. (CAPAD 2022)

Above:- An aerial view of the Yandoit Bushland Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth.

It was completely dark by the time we arrived at the park. We found a break in the scrub and ran out the 20/40/80m linked dipole. We ran the Yaesu FT857 and 40 watts. I used the special callsign of VI10VKFF.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3VIN
  2. VK3CEO
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK3KAI
  5. VK2IO/p (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
  6. VK1AO
  7. VK2MET
  8. VK4NH
  9. VK4DXA
  10. VK3CLD/p

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3VIN
  2. VK3CEO
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK3KAI
  5. VK2IO/p (Molonglo Gorge Nature Reserve VKFF-0991)
  6. VK1AO
  7. VK2MET
  8. VK4NH
  9. VK4DXA
  10. VK3CLD/p
  11. VK7AAE
  12. VK1CHW
  13. VK3KKP
  14. VK3YV
  15. VK3TNL
  16. VK3SO
  17. VK3UAO
  18. VK3APJ
  19. VK4SMA
  20. VK3SG
  21. VK3QH
  22. VK7HBR
  23. VK2PBC
  24. VK5DW
  25. VK5FANA
  26. VK5LA
  27. VK5KAW
  28. VK5KLV
  29. VK2FJG
  30. ZL3ASN
  31. VK3EJ
  32. VK3BWS

References.

  1. Cultural Heritage Unit, D. of H. (n.d.). Yandoit, VIC – Place – Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia. [online] http://www.egold.net.au. Available at: https://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00305b.htm [Accessed 1 Apr. 2024].
  2. ‌Dcceew.gov.au. (2023). Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) 2022 – DCCEEW. [online] Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/2022 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2024].‌
  3. vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au. (n.d.). VHD. [online] Available at: https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/69285 [Accessed 1 Apr. 2024].
  4. ‌www.victorianplaces.com.au. (n.d.). Yandoit | Victorian Places. [online] Available at: https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/yandoit [Accessed 1 Apr. 2024].‌

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