Apamura silo VK-APA5

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After leaving Lenger Reserve on 1st September 2024, Marija and I headed along Dennis Road towards home. We were lucky to see a Kite soaring close to the ground in a paddock adjacent to the road. Unfortunately I did not have my zoom lens but I did snap a few photographs.

We then drove into the little town of Punthari which was originally called Finnis Vale. It was named after Boyle Travers Finniss (b. 1807. d. 1893), the first Premier of South Australia. (Wikipedia 2024)

Above:- Boyle Travers Finniss. Image c/o Wikipedia.

Following the opening of the Post Office the Postmaster General suggested a name change to Nuske. The local settlers did not agree. The name of Hildesheim was adopted. (Cockburn 1990)

During the First World War, many German place names in South Australia were changed due to anti-German sentiment. A Nomenclature Committee was given the task of finding German names. A total of 67 were found. This included Hildesheim. The name was changed to Punthari, an aboriginal word meaning ‘scrub’. (Cockburn 1990)

I was keen to have a look at the Saunders Creek rail bridge, so we headed north. Unfortunately, we could not get close to the bridge as private land had to be accessed to reach it.

We then drove south, enjoying the very picturesque countryside.

As we approached the silos at Apamurra, we decided to stop briefly to activate the silos for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program.

Aparmurra is an aboriginal word for ‘fresh water’. (Cockburn 1990)

Apamurra was on the Monarto to Sedan railway line, a branch line of main south line from Adelaide. It commenced art Monarto South and stretched for 70km to Sedan in the north. The line which opened in 1919, had eight stations and goods sidings. The line from Cambrai to Sedan closed in the late 1960s. The Cambrai to Apamurra section closed in 1987. The line between Apamurra to Monarto closed in 2005. (G, M 2021)

Below is an excellent video on the old Monarto to Sedan railway line.

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.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK2YK/p (Waite Conservation Reserve VKFF-4060)
  2. VK5FANA
  3. VK4SMA
  4. VK4NH
  5. VK4DXA

It was getting a bit late and we were feeling hungry, so we headed into the town of Palmer, hoping that the hotel might be open. Sadly it wasn’t.

The town of Palmer was laid out in 1868 by the Australian Mining Company. Its railway station was called Apamurra. The town was named in honour of Colonel George Palmer, a South Australian Colonisation Commissioner, and a Director of the mining company. (Place Names SA 2012)

We continued west out of Palmer along Randell Road. This area is very rocky and features a unique rock called Bear Rock as it has the appearance of a Polar Bear.

On the way home we stopped off at the Commercial Hotel at Strathalbyn for a meal. And a very nice meal it was.

References.

  1. Cockburn, R. (1990). What’s in a Name?.
  2. ‌G, M. (2021). Monarto to Sedan Railway – Outdoorstype. [online] Outdoorstype. Available at: https://outdoorstype.com.au/monarto-to-sedan-railway/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2024].
  3. ‌published.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au. (n.d.). A Compendium of the Place Names of South Australia. [online] Available at: https://published.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/placenamesofsouthaustralia/. [Accessed 16 Dec 2024]
  4. ‌Wikipedia Contributors (2024). B. T. Finniss. Wikipedia. [Accessed 14 Dec 2024]‌

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