Daily Archives: May 2, 2025

Strathfieldsaye I159 Bushland Reserve VKFF-5875

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Our next park for Tuesday, 29th October 2024, was the Strathfieldsaye I159 Bushland Reserve VKFF-5875. The reserve is located about 10 km east of Bendigo in central Victoria.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Strathfieldsaye I159 Bushland Reserve. Map c/o Google Maps.

It is believed that Strathfieldsaye was named after the Hampshire estate awarded to the Duke of Wellington in 1817. Strathfield means ‘field near street’ and saye means ‘small island’. (Blake 1978) (Victorianplaces.com.au, 2015)

The Shire Hall was built in 1869 alongside the Duke of Wellington Hotel. The town is located on Sheepwash Creek, and this land was found very suitable for dairying, fruit and vegetable growing. There were also several vineyards in the district. In 1871, Strathfieldsaye’s population was 26 people. In 1873, a school was opened in the Shire Hall, with a permanent school building constructed two years later in 1875. By 1888, the railway had reached Strathfieldsaye from Bendigo. (Victorianplaces.com.au, 2015)  (Wikipedia Contributors, 2019)

The reserve is located on the southern side of Somerset Park Road. Google Maps shows the park, also called Turner’s Bushland Reserve and Somerset Park Reserve.

Above:- An aerial view of the Strathfieldsaye I159 Bushland Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth.

The reserve is about 24 hectares in size and was established on the 24th day of August 1982. (CAPAD 2022)

We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3CEO
  2. VK3PF
  3. VK3KAI
  4. VK3WSG
  5. VK1AO
  6. VK2MET
  7. VK2YK
  8. VK5GA
  9. VK2IO/P (VKFF-0420)
  10. VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-0420)

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3CEO
  2. VK3PF
  3. VK3KAI
  4. VK3WSG
  5. VK1AO
  6. VK2MET
  7. VK2YK
  8. VK5GA
  9. VK2IO/P (VKFF-0420)
  10. VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-0420)
  11. VK3VIN
  12. VK5WU
  13. VK3ZGA
  14. VK7MAT
  15. VK2MFW
  16. VK4FDJL
  17. VK4WAB
  18. VK4ABFT
  19. VK5LA
  20. VK5KAW
  21. VK2LEE
  22. VK6DJ
  23. VK3HJW
  24. VK1ARQ
  25. VK5PDR
  26. VK3APJ
  27. VK4SMA
  28. VK3MGM
  29. VK3EJ
  30. VK3ADS
  31. VK4HMI
  32. VK2BW
  33. VK5QA
  34. VK3CLD
  35. VK2DBF
  36. VK3PWG
  37. VK3TTK
  38. VK3HBG
  39. VK3CEO/M
  40. VK5IS
  41. VK2ACZ
  42. VK5EBA
  43. VK3BEL
  44. VK3TDX

I worked the following stations on 40m AM:-

  1. VK3APJ
  2. VK3CEO
  3. VK4SMA

References.

  1. 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 2 May. 2025].‌
  2. ‌Leslie James Blake, 1978, Place Names of Victoria.
  3. Victorianplaces.com.au. (2015). Strathfieldsaye | Victorian Places. [online] Available at: https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/strathfieldsaye [Accessed 2 May 2025].‌
  4. Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Strathfieldsaye. Wikipedia.‌

Junortoun Bushland Reserve VKFF-5182

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Our next activation for Tuesday, 29th October 2024, was the Junortoun Bushland Reserve VKFF-5182. The park is located about 8 km east of Bendigo.

Before European occupation, the Junortoun district was home to the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal people.

In February 1855, Charles Boyle acquired allotments in section 15 of Strathfieldsaye parish. His property was called Homebush. (Tripod.com, 2025)

The settlement was centred around Homebush Estate, a property of about 2,000 acres owned by the Lazarus family, which extended along the valley of Splitters Creek. The homestead was situated about 5 1/2 miles from Bendigo on the current McIvor Highway. (Junortoun Community Action Group, 2018) (Tripod.com, 2025) (Victorianplaces.com.au, 2015)

There were two hotels in the district, the Homebush Hotel and the Farmers Arms Hotel, built in 1896. The Farmers Arms Hotel was destroyed by fire in February 2009. (Tripod.com, 2025) (Victorianplaces.com.au, 2015)

Up until the early 1970s, the homestead was the receiving Post Office for the district. During the early 1900s, there were several complaints regarding mail being redirected to Homebush in New South Wales. This resulted in the Postal Authorities deeming that a name change was necessary. (Tripod.com, 2025)

Meetings of local residents subsequently took place, and name suggestions were proposed. The owner of Homebush, Mr. Samuel Lazarus, proposed that the name be ‘Junor’ after his wife Mary’s maiden name. However, the authorities declined this name because it was too similar to Junee in New South Wales. (Tripod.com, 2025)

Above:- Mary Isabella Lazarus, nee Junor. Image c/o ancestry.com.au

The suffix of ‘toun’ was subsequently added to ‘Junor’, and this was submitted and accepted as the new name. (Junortoun Community Action Group, 2018)

Above:- Article from The Bendigo Independent, Tue 28 Nov 1916. Image c/o Trove.

The reserve is located on the southern side of McIvor Highway at the junction with Wilkie Road.

When we arrived at the park, this is what we were faced with. Power lines were running through a very heavily wooded park. We were really concerned that there would be significant noise in this park.

The Junorton Bushland Reserve is about 2 hectares in size and was established on the 3rd day of August 2006. (CAPAD 2022)

For this activation, we ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole. Fortunately, the 40m band had only a crackly noise floor of strength 2.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK2IO/p (VKFF-0420)
  2. VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-0420)
  3. VK3WSG
  4. VK5TN
  5. VK1AO
  6. VK2MET
  7. VK5WU
  8. VK3BEL
  9. VK2SLB
  10. VK2BRN
  11. VK2KBT
  12. VK2VW
  13. VK2HFI
  14. VK2AKA
  15. VK2BUG

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK2IO/p (VKFF-0420)
  2. VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-0420)
  3. VK3WSG
  4. VK5TN
  5. VK1AO
  6. VK2MET
  7. VK5WU
  8. VK3BEL
  9. VK2SLB
  10. VK2BRN
  11. VK2KBT
  12. VK2VW
  13. VK2HFI
  14. VK2AKA
  15. VK2BUG
  16. VK2TM
  17. VK4DNO
  18. VK3DNO
  19. VK2HRX
  20. VK5UV
  21. VK3MCA
  22. VK3GJG
  23. VK5HS
  24. VK5PE
  25. VK4HAT
  26. VK5LA
  27. VK5KAW
  28. VK3PF
  29. VK3KAI
  30. VK2LEE
  31. VK2YK
  32. VK5GA
  33. VK7MAT
  34. VK3APJ
  35. VK2ABM
  36. VK3CEO
  37. VK3DL
  38. VK3SO
  39. VK3SFG
  40. VK3ZZS
  41. VK4EHI
  42. VK2BHO

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

  1. IW2BNA
  2. IK4IDF

References.

  1. 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 2 May. 2025].‌
  2. Junortoun Community Action Group. (2018). History of Junortoun. [online] Available at: https://www.junortoun.vic.au/about-junortoun/history/ [Accessed 2 May 2025].‌
  3. Tripod.com. (2025). Junortoun. [online] Available at: https://megj42.tripod.com/id9.html [Accessed 2 May 2025].
  4. ‌Victorianplaces.com.au. (2015). Junortoun | Victorian Places. [online] Available at: https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/junortoun [Accessed 2 May 2025].
  5. ‌Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Junortoun. Wikipedia.‌