My first park for Tuesday 23rd April 2024 was the Thorny Passage Marine Park VKFF-1751 on the Eyre Peninsula. This was my first activation of this park for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WFF) program.

After breakfast, I headed out of Port Lincoln. My first stop was the monument for Captain Matthew Flinders on Proper Bay Road. The cairn commemorates Flinders and his ship’s company’s first visit for water in 1802. The cairn was unveiled in 1939 during the Port Lincoln Centenary.

This area is part of the Encounter 2002 Walking Trail. The trail was developed to commemorate the charting of the Eyre Peninsula and Port Lincoln area by Matthew Flinders.

Flinders Well is located in close proximity. On the 26th day of February 1802, FLinders wrote “Fresh water at this time being the most pressing or our wants”. Flinders climbed Stamford Hill looking for the eight seamen missing from the capsized cutter. From there he saw a lake or mere to the south of his ship. His party went to Sleaford Mere ‘but to our mortification, the after was brackish and not drinkable’. They returned and, attracted by swans and other sea birds and finding a ‘moist place’, his sailors dug for water about 100 metres from the head of South West (Proper) Bay. The well, of clay-bottomed soil, produced some water.

According to Flinders ‘water flowed and though whitish in colour, and at first somewhat thick-it was well tasted.’ Flinders needed 60 tonnes of after and it took days to fill the casks from the slow-flowing spring and load them onto his ship Investigator. On the 4th day of March 1802, Flinders prepared to leave the anchorage, waiting ‘only for the observation of a solar eclipse, announced in the nautical ephemeris.’ After a morning of clouds and some rain, he observed the eclipse with a refracting 46-inch telescope with ‘satisfaction’.

Above:- Captain Matthew Flinders. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The Thorny Passage Marine Park covers 2,472 km2 and is located in the Eyre Bioregion. The park includes the waters off the lower Eyre Peninsula, extending from Frenchman Bluff to Memory Cove. It also includes both Rocky and Greenly Islands. (DEWNR 2012).

Above:- Map showing the boundaries of the Thorny Passage Marine Park. Map c/o Parks SA.

The park comprises various habitats including sheltered bays and inlets, reefs, seagrass meadows, tidal sandflats, rugged rocky coastlines, surf beaches, and offshore islands. Wildlife includes White Pointer sharks, Australian Sea Lions, Southern Bluefin tuna, 13 whale species, various reef fish including Western Blue Gropef, and several nationally and internationally protected shorebirds and seabirds. (DEWNR 2012).

Above:- An aerial view of the park. Image c/o Google Maps.

I stopped at the carpark at Lolo Beach where you can find an information board regarding the wreck of the Mary Ellis.

The Mary Ellis was a trading ketch that worked in South Australian waters from 1899 to 1907. It undertook voyages to the West Coast and regularly called into ports such as Venus Bay, Sceale Bay, Streaky Bay, Denial Bay, Fowlers Bay, Elliston and Point Sinclair. (Aust Govt 2024)

Above:- Part of an article from the Observer, Sat 13 Apr 1907. Image c/o Trove.

In April 1907 it was caught in a gale during its journey from Port Adelaide and Venus Bay.

Above:- The wreck of the Mary Ellis, c. 1911. Image c/o State Library SA.

There is also a sign here detailing the journey of the Southern Right Whale.

This is beautiful coastline. There were several surfers in the water.

I drove up to Lone Pine Lookout and set up my station comprising the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB before the UTC rollover:-

1. VK5MAZ
2. VK5IS
3. VK5HS/m
4. VK3PF
5. VK3KAI
6. VK3MCK
7. VK2MOE
8. VK5LA
9. VK5KAW
10. VK3EJ
11. VK5AYL
12. VK3AWA
13. VK5FIVE
14. VK6DS
15. VK2YK
16. VK5GA

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

1. VK2YK
2. VK5GA
3. VK5FIVE
4. VK5IS
5. VK5MAZ
6. VK3PF/m
7. VK3KAI/m
8. VK5LA
9. VK5KA
10. VK5HS/m
11. VK3FQSo
12. VK3SO
13. VK3SFG
14. VK3BEL
15. VK5GY

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK3BEL
2. VK5LA
3. VK5KAW
4. VK5MAZ
5. VK1AO
6. VK2MET
7. VK3SO
8. VK3SFG
9. Vk4NH
10. VK4DXA
11. VK2IO
12. VK3CEO
13. VK2VW
14. VK2HFI
15. VK2AKA
16. VK2BUG
17. VK2ADF
18. Zl2STR
19. VK5QA/m
20. Vk3CLD/m
21. VK4HNS
22. VK3DCQ
23. VK5IS
24. VK7QP
25. KG8P
26. VK3ANL
27. VK4JG
28. KG5CIK
29. VK2YK
30. VK5GA

I worked the following stations on 20m FT8:-

1. VK3CEO
2. VK6DS
3. VK3SQ
4. VK3DWL
5. VK3APJ
6. VK7XX

I worked the following stations on 40m FT8:-

1. VK7XX
2. VK5MAZ
3. VK2IO

References.

1. Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources, 2012, Thorny Passage Marine Park Management Plan
2. Environment.gov.au. (2024). SHIPWRECKS – View. [online] Available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=5579 [Accessed 11 Aug. 2024].‌