Our final silo for our trip (Monday 21st November 2022) was the Kaniva 2 silo VK-KNV3. We made quite a mistake, as we had forgotten that we had activated this silo on the 1st day of our trip. Oh well, we added some more QSOs to our tally for this silo.
Above:- Map showing the location of Kaniva. Map c/o Google maps.
Kaniva is located about 416 km north west of Melbourne.
Please see my previous post re this silo. There are some interesting videos at that post about the silo.
Kaniva is home to the sheep art trail which spans about 900 metres in length, running from from the Big Windmill connecting the Silo Art to the Wetlands and Fauna Park. The Sheep Art Trail features 46 sheep, murals and games.
Every time we travel through Kaniva, we stop at the Fauna Park and aviary at Kaniva. It was established by the Kaniva Rotary Club during the 1980s.
It was time for us to hit the road. Sadly there was no more time for any further silos. It had been a brilliant 4 weeks away.
Thankyou to everyone who called us and thanks to those who took the time to spot us on parksnpeaks.
We then activated our 8th silo for the day (Monday 21st November 2022), the Kiata silo VK-KTT3.
Kiata is located on the Western Highway about 13 km east of the town of Nhill and about 362 km north west of the city of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of Kiata in western Victoria. Map c/o Google maps.
Kiata is an aboriginal word meaning summer heat. During the early 1870s the land around Kiata was taken up for farm selections. In 1876 the township of Kiata was surveyed. In 1879 the Kiata West school opened, followed by the Kiata East school in 1881. In 1884 the Kiata Anglican church was opened and used as a school. In 1887 the railway line was opened and a hotel, store and blacksmith followed.
Today little remains in Kiata. Many of the old shops and the hotel are now sadly closed.
The Kiata silo is located on the northern side of the Western Highway.
We ran the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna for this activation, and operated from alongside of the silo.
Above:- Map showing the location of the silo and the activation zone. Image c/o SiOTA website.
Our seventh silo for Monday 21st November 2022 was the Gerang Gurung silo VK-GRU3, located about 351 km north west of the city of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of Gerang Gerung. Map c/o Google maps
Gerang Gerung comes from an aboriginal word jerung meaning a leaf or branch. European pastoralists settled in the area commenced in 1846. During the early 1880s the Junction Hotel was opened. In September 1884 the Gerang State School No 2618 was opened. Following the opening of the railway line in 1887 from Dimboola to Serviceton, a general store, Bible Christian church and a public hall were built.
Nowadays very little remains in Gerang Gerung.
The silo is located in Railway Street.
We operated from directly alongside of the silo and ran the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna.
Above:- Map showing the location of Gerang Gerung and the activation zone. Image c/o SiOTA website.
Our sixth silo for Monday 21st November 2022 was the Dimboola silo VK-DMA3. Dimboola is located in western Victoria about 337 km north west of the city of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of Dimboola in western Victoria. Map c/o Google maps.
Prior to the arrival of European settlers the Dimboola area was occupied by the Wotjobaluk aboriginal people. In 1852 it is believed there were about 1,200 Wotjobaluk people living in the area.
In 1846 the first station in the district was established by Horatio Ellerman and George Shaw. By 1859 the area was known as ‘Nine Creeks’ due to the numerous nearby branches of the Wimmera River. In 1862 a town site was surveyed. Dimboola was gazetted and proclaimed in 1863. The Post office still called Nine Creeks at this time.
Dimboola is a Singhalese word (‘Dimbula’) meaning ‘land of figs’. This was because the surveyor of Dimboola was John George Winchester Wilmot (b. 1830. d. 1895) who had been a pioneering coffee planter in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon).
The Dimboola silo is a large complex and is located between Upper Region Street and Hindmarsh Street in the heart of Dimboola.
We operated from Upper Region Street directly opposite the silo. It was a little noisy on the 40m band due to us being in the heart of town. We ran the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna for this activation.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Dimboola silo and the activation zone. Image c/o SiOTA website.
Our next silo for Monday 21st November 2022 was the Pimpinio silo VK-PMO3. Pimpinio is located about 15km west of Horsham and about 317 km north west of Melbourne.
Above:- Map showing the location of Pimipinio. Map c/o Google maps.
Pimpinio is believed to have derived from an Aboriginal word describing a man squatting on his heels, or children. In around 1870 a hotel and blacskmith’s forge was established in the Pimpinio area. The township of Pimpinio was gazetted on the 28th day of July 1873. In 1874 the Pimpinio school was opened in a Union Church hall. Following the extension of the railway from Horsham to Dimboola, a store was opened in the town.
The Pimpinio railway station was built in 1882 and disestablished 100 years later in 1982.
Our third silo for Monday 21st November 2022 was the Dahlen Siding silo VK-DHG3. It is located on the Western Highway about 10km north west of Horsham.
Above:- Map showing the location of Dahlen Siding. Map c/o Google maps.
Dahlen Siding is a railway siding, with the silos being located between the Western Highway and Plowrights Road.
The Dahlen silos were built in 1951.
Above:- Article from The Horsham Times, Tues 17 July 1951. Image c/o Trove.
We operated from right alongside of the silos, running the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna.
During our activation we were hit by heavy rain and hail. As the rain band approached the rain static on the 20m band went up to strength 9.
Our second silo for Monday 21st November 2022 was the Vectis silo VK-VCS3, located just off the Wimmera Highway in western Victoria, about 15 km west of Horsham.
Above:- Map showing the location of Vectis, Victoria. Map c/o Google maps.
The rural locality of Vectis was named after the Vectis pastoral run which was taken up in 1844 by James and Alexander Wilson. By the early 1870’s a number of Prussian Lutheran settlers took up farm selections in the area. In 1875 the Zion Lutheran church was erected. Schools were also established between 1876 to 1878. In 1887, the railway line between Horsham and Noradjuha was opened and a railway station existed at Vectis.
The Vectis silos are working silos, operated by Shannon Bros, a family owned and operated commercial grain storage, export packing and logistics company. They have two grain receival and export packing sites, one of which is Vectis.
We operated from the 4WD for this activation on Geodetic Road, adjacent to the silo. We used the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna.
Above:- Map showing the location of the silo and the activation zone. Image c/o SiOTA website.
On our way home (Monday 21st November 2022) we had planned on trying to activate as many silos as possible for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program. We had a 410 km drive ahead of us and it was already late in the morning, so each activation was going to be quick.
Our first silo was the Horsham silo VK-HRM3, in western Victoria.
Above:- Map showing the location of Horsham. Map c/o Google maps.
Horsham is a regional city in western Victoria about 300 km northwest of Melbourne. It has a population of about 20,429 people (2021 census). It is the 11th largest city in Victoria.
It was named Horsham by James Monckton Darlot (b. 1811. d. 1903), an early settler in the area, after his native town of Horsham in the United Kingdom.
Above:- Article from The Blayney Advocate and Carcoar Herald, Sat 20 Jul 1901. Image c/o Trove
The Horsham silo features silo art. The silo itself has a painting of Yanggendyiaanyuk, an aboriginal man whose tracking skills were used. On the old flour mill next to the silo is a painting of a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo.
The murals were painted by artist Sam Bates @ Smug and were completed in May 2022. The mural is titled The Yangga Dyata which means ‘Walking on Country’.
Yanggendyinanyuk (b. c. 1834d. 1866), also known as ‘Dick-a-Dick’, Dicky Dick, King Richard, Richard Kennedy, and Richard Barney, was a tracker and cricketer. He was a member of the first Australian cricket team to tour England in 1868, composed of aboriginal Australians.
Above:- The aboriginal cricket team, c. 1867 at the Melbourne Cricket Team. Image c/o State Library NSW
The story of this cricket team is little known by many Australians I have found. There is a brilliant museum at Harrow, the Harrow Discovery Centre, which we have visited and tells the story of the team.
On Friday the 12th day of August 1864, in the mallee scrub near Natimuk, three white children, Isaac Cooper, Jane Cooper and Frank Duff, went missing. Their tracks were found the following day, however a thunderstorm developed and this resulted in the tracks being destroyed. The official search for the children was subsequently cancelled and the children were reported as being dead.
Six days later on the 18th day of August 1864, a neighbour of the Duff family suggested that Dick-a-Dick and other Wotjobaluk aboriginal trackers be used. The Duff family agreed and as a result, Dick-a-Dick took two other Wotjobaluk men, Jerry and Fred, with him and recommenced a search. Within hours they located the children.
As a result Dick-a-Dick became a hero and was called King Richard. He and the other two aboriginal trackers received a reward of £15 between them. They were permitted to spend £5 in whatever fashion they chose, while the remaining amount ws given to their white employer.
Above:- from an article in The Australian News for Home Readers, Sat 24 Sep 1864. Image c/o Trove.
We operated from the 4WD directly alongside of the silo on Wawunna Road, Horsham. We used the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna for this activation.
Above:- The location of the silo and the activation zone. Image c/o SiOTA website.
It was day 27 (Monday 21st November 2022) and the final day of our amazing trip. After breakfast and booking our of our motel we decided to do one more final park activation. We did plan on a number of silos on our way home.
We headed to the JJ Kingston Wildflower Sanctuary VKFF-2337, just on the edge of the town of Stawell.
Above:- Map showing the location of the JJ Kingston Wildfloweer Sanctuary. Map c/o google maps
The park is a tiny piece of remnant scrub on the northern side of Crowlands Road between Barbara Street and Oliver Road.
Above:- An aerial view of the park. Image c/o Google Earth.
The park is named in honour of Mr. J.J. Kingston, the Stawell Mayor 1951-1952.
Unfortunately there were no wildflowers in the park during our visit.
We operated from the 4WD for this activation, running the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna.
Marija made the following QSOs on 40m SSB:-
VK2IO
VK2MET
VK1AO
VK2PKT
VK5HAA
VK5FANA
VK5BJF
VK5BJE
VK3PF
VK3AHR
Marija made the following QSOs on 20m SSB:-
VK2MET
VK1AO
I made the following QSOs on 40m SSB:-
VK2IO
VK2MET
VK1AO
VK2PKT
VK5HAA
VK5FANA
VK5BJF
VK5BJE
VK3PF
VK3AHR
I made the following QSOs on 20m SSB:-
VK2MET
VK1AO
VK4MUD
ZL1TM
VK4EMP
VK4TI
We headed back into Stawell and despite having visited the town many times previously, we took the time to have a look at some of the historic buildings located in the town.
St Matthews Uniting Church was completed in 1868 and was opened on the 11th day of April 1869 with a special dedication service. The church was built at a cost of about £2000. The tower and spire was paid for by anonymous donor at a cost of £1352. The 40,000 bricks required were purchased for 35 shillings per 1000.
Oban was built in 1898 as a private home for Mr & Mrs. Edward Simmons (no known relation). He and his brother Walter were the main shareholders in Stawell’s Oriental gold mine.
The town of Stawell holds the annual Stawell Gift, a foot race which has been held since 1878. It is held at Central Park in Stawell.
No visit to Stawell can pass without a visit to the local bakery which has regularly been the winner of Australia’s best vanilla slice.
We then stopped at the site of the old Pleasant Creek Hospital. It was opened on the 21st day of June 1861 and replaced the tent hospital of the goldfields. It was the only hospital between Ballarat and the Murray at that time. In 1882 a Benevolent ward was opened which gave shelter to many miners and others who had come from overseas int he gold rush days and had no families in Australia to assist them.
A little further along the Western Highway at Stawell is the memorial cairn for explorer Major Mitchell who passed by the location in July 1836.
A little further down the road, not far from Deep Lead is the Doctors Hill Monument. It commemorates the establishment and erection in 1859 of the first Pleasant Creek Hospital, which served the needs of the gold miners and the rural community of western Victoria.
Just before getting into Horsham we stopped sat Green Lake where I previously went swimming as a child during my visits to Horsham to with my parents to visit relatives. Due to all of the recent rain the lake was full. Marija and I have previously seen it bone dry.
We then called in to see my Aunty Dawn and Uncle Jack at Horsham, and spent a few very enjoyable hours with them.
VK5PAS 