Bullock Hill Conservation Park VKFF-0873

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The 2024 VKFF Team Championship was held on Saturday 12th October 2024. This is a fun event that is held each year in October for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Marija VK5MAZ and I headed out to activate three local parks for the Championship. Our team name was ‘The Walky Talkies’.

The first was the Bullock Hill Conservation Park VKFF-0873. Marija and I have activated this park several times previously. The park is located about 65 km southeast of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Bullock Hill Conservation Park. Map c/o Google Maps.

The park’s eastern boundary is Wattle Flat Road. Its southern boundary is Haines Road. A heritage agreement exists on the western side of the park. It takes its name from Bullock Hill, a hill rising 188 metres above sea level.

Above:- An aerial view of the Bullock Hill Conservation Park. Image c/o Google Earth.

The park is about 221 hectares in size and was established on the 30th day of January 2014. Bul­lock Hill is an undu­lat­ing park with several vegetation types including tall stands of euca­lyp­tus, includ­ing pink gum and cup gum through to native grasslands in the east. Eucalypt woodlands can be found on the western side of the park which have a dense under­sto­ry of aca­cia and mixed heath.  (CAPAD 2022) (NPWS 2024)

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

There are three hikes in the park and these are covered well on the Walking SA website. National Parks SA also has a map (show below) which shows the three hikes.

Above:- Map showing the three hikes in the park. Map c/o National Parks SA.

Birds SA have recorded a total of 95 native birds in the park. Common species include Common Bronzewing, Superb Fairywren, Brown-headed Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird, Brown Thornbill, Grey Shrikethrush. Rainbow Bee-eaters have also been sighted. (Birds SA)

The park is also home to Western Grey kangaroos. These can be sighted regularly at dawn and dusk in the park’s eastern grassland area. (NPWS 2024)

Marija and I set up on the Wattle Flat Road side of the park. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole.

We found the band conditions to be poor. We managed 72 contacts. All of those excluding 2, were made on 40m SSB. We did not try 20m as we were entered in the 40/80m section for the Team Championship.

It was nice to log Ian Vk5CZ & Gordon VK5GY who were taking part as ‘No flies on us’, and Chris VK1CHW & Jared VK2LDJ who were taking part as the ‘Bandwidth Bandits’.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3ZPF/p (SOTA VK3/ VN-020 & Kinglake National Park VKFF-0264)
  2. VK3SRT/p (SOTA VK3/ VN-020 & Kinglake National Park VKFF-0264)
  3. VK3MCA
  4. VK3VMM
  5. VK5HS
  6. VK5AYL
  7. VK5LA
  8. VK5KAW
  9. VK5TUX
  10. VK5DMR
  11. VK5TRM
  12. VK3ZK/P (Tocumwal Regional Park VKFF-0978)
  13. VK3PWG
  14. VK3KR/P (SOTA VK3/ VC-027)
  15. VK5GVV
  16. VK2EXA
  17. VK5ALM
  18. VK5PCM
  19. VK5GY/P (Caroona Creek Conservation Park VKFF-0875)
  20. VK5CZ/P (Caroona Creek Conservation Park VKFF-0875)
  21. VK1CHW/P (Mount Ainslee Nature Reserve VKFF-0850)
  22. VK2LDJ/P (Mount Ainslee Nature Reserve VKFF-0850)
  23. VK5ZRY
  24. VK5ZNP
  25. VK3UP
  26. VK3UN
  27. VK3DL
  28. VK5GMH
  29. VK3ZSJ
  30. VK3SQ
  31. VK2BD
  32. VK3VIN
  33. VK3TDX
  34. VK5DW
  35. VK3MIJ

Marija worked the following station on 80m SSB:-

  1. VK5TUX

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3ZPF/p (SOTA VK3/ VN-020 & Kinglake National Park VKFF-0264)
  2. VK3SRT/p (SOTA VK3/ VN-020 & Kinglake National Park VKFF-0264)
  3. VK3MCA
  4. VK3VMM
  5. VK5HS
  6. VK5AYL
  7. VK5LA
  8. VK5KAW
  9. VK5TUX
  10. VK5DMR
  11. VK5TRM
  12. VK3ZK/P (Tocumwal Regional Park VKFF-0978)
  13. VK3PWG
  14. VK3KR/P (SOTA VK3/ VC-027)
  15. VK5GVV
  16. VK2EXA
  17. VK5ALM
  18. VK5PCM
  19. VK5GY/P (Caroona Creek Conservation Park VKFF-0875)
  20. VK5CZ/P (Caroona Creek Conservation Park VKFF-0875)
  21. VK1CHW/P (Mount Ainslee Nature Reserve VKFF-0850)
  22. VK2LDJ/P (Mount Ainslee Nature Reserve VKFF-0850)
  23. VK5ZRY
  24. VK5ZNP
  25. VK3UP
  26. VK3UN
  27. VK3DL
  28. VK5GMH
  29. VK3ZSJ
  30. VK3SQ
  31. VK2BD
  32. VK3VIN
  33. VK3TDX
  34. VK5DW
  35. VK3MIJ

I worked the following station on 80m SSB:-

  1. VK5TUX

References.

  1. Birdssa.asn.au. (2016). Bullock Hill Conservation Park – Birds SA. [online] Available at: https://birdssa.asn.au/location/bullock-hill-conservation-park/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 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 16 Dec. 2024].‌
  3. National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia. (2024). Bullock Hill Conservation Park. [online] Available at: https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/bullock-hill-conservation-park [Accessed 16 Dec. 2024].‌
  4. Wikipedia Contributors (2021). Bullock Hill Conservation Park. Wikipedia.‌

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