Monarto Conservation Park VKFF-0828

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Our second park for Saturday, the 22nd day of November 2025, and the 2025 VKFF Activation Weekend, was the Monarto Conservation Park VKFF-0828. Monarto is about 64 km southeast of Adelaide.

This is another park that Marija and I have visited several times previously and have activated it for the WWFF program.

Above: Map showing the location of Monarto Conservation Park. Map c/o Google Maps

Monarto Conservation Park is located on the western side of Ferries McDonald Road.

Above: the boundaries of Monarto CP. Image c/o Google Earth

The Monarto Conservation Park is about 240 hectares in size and was established on the 15th day of September 1983. It was previously known as Braendler’s Scrub. (Dcceew.gov.au 2025) (Wikipedia 2026)

Above: Declaration of the park, SA Govt Gazette, 15 September 1983

The park consists of thickets of mallee woodland and dry heathland. About 50 species of native plants have been recorded in the park. The park is located in the ‘rain shadow’ of the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges to its west. Monarto has just over half of the average rainfall of Adelaide, and is considered to be semi-arid. (NPWS 2024) (Wikipedia 2026)

The park is home to the Western grey kangaroo and the native marsupial mouse. Birds SA has recorded 108 bird species in the park, including Red-rumped parrot, Mallee Ringneck, Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Grey Fantail, and White-browned Babbler. (Birdssa.au 2026) (NPWS 2024)

Marija and I set up in our normal spot, in the carpark on the eastern side of the park. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole.

Unfortunately, we had to compete with mosquitoes and drizzling rain during this activation.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK2LDJ/p (VKFF-0860)
  2. VK1GAB/P (VKFF-0860)
  3. VK2CBC/P (VKFF-0860)
  4. VK2ZR
  5. VK2AZR
  6. VK2ZRX
  7. VK2IO/P (VKFF-0383)
  8. VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-0383)
  9. VK3GOW
  10. VK5DW
  11. VK3BCM/P (SOTA VK3/ VC-136)
  12. VK3PF
  13. VK5AV

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK2LDJ/p (VKFF-0860)
  2. VK1GAB/P (VKFF-0860)
  3. VK2CBC/P (VKFF-0860)
  4. VK2ZR
  5. VK2AZR
  6. VK2ZRX
  7. VK2IO/P (VKFF-0383)
  8. VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-0383)
  9. VK3GOW
  10. VK5DW
  11. VK3CLD
  12. VK2DBF
  13. VK5QA
  14. VK3WSG
  15. VK5AAF
  16. VK2EXA
  17. VK3AUX
  18. VK5ACC
  19. VK3SQ
  20. VK2BD
  21. VK3JT
  22. VK2MAB
  23. VK3TDX
  24. VK3KRL
  25. VK5HR
  26. VK3PWG
  27. VK3TTK
  28. VK1OZ
  29. VK2OZI
  30. VK1PW
  31. VK2APW
  32. VK2VW
  33. VK2HFI
  34. VK2AKA
  35. VK2BUG
  36. VK3APC
  37. VK3KIM
  38. VK3BCM/P (SOTA VK3/ VC-136)
  39. VK5OG/M
  40. VK5DAD/M
  41. VK3MGM
  42. VK3PF
  43. VK5AV
  44. VK3OAK
  45. VK3GUM

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB;-

  1. EA3MP
  2. VK2JJM
  3. VK4EW
  4. ZL1CZ
  5. VK2LEE
  6. VK2ETI
  7. VK2AIT
  8. VK2AIQ
  9. VK2AIX
  10. VK2AIZ
  11. VK2VW
  12. VK2HFI
  13. VK2AKA
  14. VK2BUG
  15. VK4NH
  16. VK4DXA
  17. VK4XCS
  18. E51JD

References.

  1. Dcceew.gov.au. (2025). Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database 2024 – DCCEEW. [online] Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/2024. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2026]‌
  2. National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia. (2024). Monarto Conservation Park. [online] Available at: https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/parks/monarto-conservation-park. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2026]
  3. ‌Wikipedia Contributors (2026). Monarto Conservation Park. Wikipedia.‌

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