Our third and final VKFF park activation for Thursday, the 30th day of April 2026, was Bailey Plain Bushland Reserve VKFF-4521. The reserve is located about 11 km west of the town of Piangil.
Above: Map showing the location of Bailey Plain Bushland Reserve. Map c/o Google Maps
The reserve is located on the northern side of Mallee Highway, between Fire Access Road and Salt Pan Road.
Above: the boundaries of the Bailey Plain Bushland Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth
The reserve is about 177 hectares in size and was established on the 8th day of May 1990. The park is located on the Bailey Plain Salt Pan. (Dcceew.gov.au 2023)
Chris and I drove into the park along a 4WD track. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole. We swapped the mic for this activation.
It was nice to see the long path open on 20m to Europe and the UK. We even made a Park to Park contact with a French station.
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK3SQ
- VK3JT
- VK2BD
- VK3WSG
- VK3WRD
- VK3EV
- VK5KKT
- VK3CEO
- F5PYI
- VK2EXA
- VK3AKD
- VK7PJM
- VK3UP
- VK5WU
- VK4NH
- VK4DXA
- VK3BEL
- VK3BEB
- VK2IO/P (VKFF-1272)
- VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-1272)
- VK4HMI
- VK4CPS
- VK5OZ
- VK2MAB
- VK2LUE
- VK2PKT
- VK2KFT
- VK3TDX
- VK3HBG
- VK3TBS
- VK5IS
- VK5ZLT/P
- VK3APJ
- VK2NP
- VK1DI
- VK2VIC
- VK1VIC
- VK2GOY
- VK2IO/P (VKFF-1271)
- VK2GEZ/P (VKFF-1271)
- VK5TOM
I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-
- VK4FNQ
- VK4NH
- VK4DXA
- KG5CIK
- VK2VW
- VK2HFI
- VK2AKA
- VK2BUG
- VK6XL
- EA3MP
- IW2NEF
- IU2SMA
- PD1JN
- KL1OQ
- KH6DE
- OH1MM
- EB3AM
- GB9IOW
- IU4VLX
- CT7BIZ
- SP7MW
- EA7HNE
- VK6LK
- ZL1HIM
- IK1GPG
- DL1EBR
- OM3CND
- F5NZO
- MW0YVK
- G1IZQ
- HB9EFJ
- UT5PI
- G0IDX
- TK5AE
- SQ9FMC
- SP5GOH
- IK3HMB
- OH6GAZ
- F4GYM
- F6KBK
- F6EOC (FFF-0300)
- LB1LJ
- EA1FMZ
- ON7MZ
- G8AKL
Chris and I still had a significant number of European stations calling us, but we needed to go QRT to get to our accommodation at Kyalite. Apologies to all those who were calling.
We drove west along the Mallee Highway to the town of Piangil and enjoyed a magnificent sunset as we drove along. We then crossed over the Murray River from Victoria into New South Wales.
Chris and I checked into the Kyalite Pub, unloaded the 4WD and then went to the pub for dinner.
I had crumbed cutlets for dinner, and they were sensational.
After a very nice meal and a few ales, we headed back to our rooms for a good night’s sleep after a very enjoyable day.
References.
- 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 8 May. 2026]
VK5PAS 