Our first activation for the trip to the north of South Australia, was the Clinton Conservation Park, VKFF-813, which is located about 100 km north of Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of the park.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I have activated Clinton Conservation Park previously…..back in February 2015, and June 2013.  However, the park was recently added to the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program, so I was seeking 44 contacts to qualify the park.

https://vk5pas.org/2015/02/08/clinton-conservation-park-2/

https://vk5pas.org/2013/06/09/clinton-conservation-park/

The Clinton Conservation Park was established in 1972, and is 1,923 hectares in size.  It is a boomerang shaped park, which is situated at the northern extremity of Gulf St Vincent.  It stretches around the top of the Gulf from just north of Port Wakefield, around to the little town of Port Clinton on the Yorke Peninsula.  The park comprises an expanse of mainly low-lying, coastal-fringe habitats, with mangroves and samphire communities, and extensive tracts of intertidal mudflats.  It is an important refuge as a fish nursery and a significant site for migratory wading birds.

Above:- Map showing the park boundaries.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I set up in the same spot as my activation earlier in the year, which is at the end of a dirt track on the western side of the Yorke Highway.  The track continues on from a parking bay off the Highway.

This was a typical park activation for me….I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts and the 40m/20m linked dipole supported on the 7 metre squid pole.  The weather was a little inclement.  It was quite chilly and there was the occasional shower.

Prior to calling CQ I tuned around the 40m band and found Julie VK3FOWL and Joe VK3YSP operating on 7.100 from SOTA peak, Mount Hickey, VK3/ VN-015.  Julie and Joe were my first contacts from Clinton and had terrific 5/9 signals coming into the Yorke Peninsula.  I then headed down to 7.095 where I started calling CQ.  Greg VK5GJ at Meadows in the Adelaide Hills was the first responder.  This was followed by Adrian VK5FANA running QRP 5 watts from Arthurton on the Yorke Peninsula, just 50km south of my operating location.  Not surprising that Adrian was a very strong 5/9.  My next caller was from another part of South Australia.  This time the South East, about 600 km away.  It was Alan VK5FAJS with a nice 5/9 signal.

My 10th caller was from the other end of Australia.  It was Rob VK4FFAB north west of Brisbane in Queensland.  Rob was not all that strong (5/3), but he was perfectly readable as there was no man made noise at all on the frequency.

Again, for this activation, it was great to get some QRP callers in the log.  Amanda VK3FQSO called in quite early in the activation running just 500 milliwatts and was a genuine 5/7 signal.  I also spoke with Col VK5HCF at Mount Gambier (5/9 both ways), Ian VK5IS in the Mid North (5/9 both ways), Nick VK3ANL running 5 watts (5/8 sent and 5/9 received), and Bill VK5MBD at Red Hill also running 5 watts (5/9 both ways).

And a number of mobile stations also called me.  They included Terry VK3UP mobile at Buninyong (5/9 both ways), Mark VK5QI mobile on his way to Aztronics to spend some money, Greg VK5ZGY mobile in the South East (5/8 both ways), Tony VK3AN/mobile 5 at Burra in the Mid North, Ron VK3VBI, and Theo VK5MTM.

It was also nice to get Barry VK5BW in the log, operating VK5BAR from the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society (AHARS) shack at Blackwood.  Barry was using the club’s new Anan SDR transceiver.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

During our activation, we had a car towing a trailer drive down towards us.  A gentleman hopped out and had a close look.  We soon realised that the pidgeon contained pidgeons.  After a short time the fella then hopped in his car and drove off into the nearby parking bay and released dozens of homing pidgeons.  The man then drove off.  Not sure where the pidgeons were headed to?

After working a total of 53 stations on 40m, I lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the dipole, so I could operate on 20m.  I headed up to 14.310 and started calling CQ and this was soon answered by Andrew VK2UH who had a lovely 5/9 signal.  This was followed by Cliff VK2NP, Peter VK3PRF and then Max VK6FN in Manjimup (5/9 sent and 5/7 received).  Chris VK4FR then gave me a shout from Townsville, running just 10 watts (5/6 sent and 5/7 received).  I went on to work a further 9 stations on 20m from VK1, VK2, VK5, VK6, VK7, and VK8.  Great representation from all across Australia, including Greg VK8GM in Alice Springs who was very strong.  I was also competing with a YV5 from Venezuela who was also on the frequency.

Unfortunately time and the weather were conspiring against me, and it was time for Marija and I to get back on the road and continue our journey north.  After an hour and twenty minutes in the park, I had a total of 67 contacts in the log.  I was happy man…I had qualified the park for WWFF.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3FOWL/p (SOTA VK3/ VN-015)
2. VK3YSP/p (SOTA VK3/ VN-015)
3. VK5GJ
4. VK5FANA
5. VK5FAJS
6. VK5JK
7. VK5FMID
8. VK3FQSO
9. VK5HCF
10. VK4FFAB
11. VK5IS
12. VK3ANL
13. VK5MBD
14. VK3UP/m
15. VK5FMJC
16. VK5NQP
17. VK3NBV
18. VK5FD
19. VK3OF
20. VK4AAC/5
21. VK5QI/m
22. VK2XXM
23. VK3XPT
24. VK3CAB
25. VK5KFB
26. VK5ZGY/m
27. VK1NAM
28. VK3MEG
29. VK2HV
30. VK5BAR
31. VK3PRF
32. VK3HRA
33. VK1DI
34. VK3AN/5
35. VK1AT
36. VK5LDM
37. VK5FLEX
38. VK5FTRG
39. VK6FN
40. VK3VKT
41. VK5ZAI
42. VK2NP
43. VK5TD
44. VK5LY
45. VK2IO
46. VK7MK
47. VK3VBI/m
48. VK3VIN
49. VK2GKA
50. VK3MAT
51. VK3PI
52. VK2NEO
53. VK5MTM/m

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK2UH
2. VK2NP
3. VK3PRF
4. VK6FN
5. VK4FR
6. VK2GKA
7. VK1DI
8. VK7MK
9. VK5LG
10. VK2KTT
11. VK8GM
12. VK6BSA
13. VK1NAM
14. VK2IO

References.

Department for Environment and Heritage, 2009, ‘Mainland Conservation Parks of Yorke Peninsula’.

My final park for the 6 days was the Penola Conservation Park which is located about 12 km west of Penola on the northern side of the Robe-Penola Road.  This was another unique park for me for both the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award and the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Above:- Map showing the location of the park.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

The park was gazetted on the 10th day of September 1970 and covers an area of around 226 hectares.  Vegetation within the park consists of woodland of brown stringybark, river red gums, swamp gum, and rough barked manna gums.  The park contains two large wetland areas including Green Swamp.

I drove into the park along the main track which leads to a beautiful little campground area.  There was a wooden table and benches here which made a perfect shack.  Again for this activation I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts and my 40m/20m linked dipole supported on a 7m telescopic squid pole.

Above:- Map showing my operating spot.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

This time around I started off on 20m.  And I actually found 14.244 free which is quite a rarity.  I started calling CQ and it wasn’t long before this was answered by Brian VK4HBB (5/9 both ways).  Ron VK7VDL from Tasmania followed (again 5/9 both ways), and Tom VK2KF from Kandos then gave me a shout (and again 5/9 both ways).  My next caller was my first DX station for the activation, Al S58AL from Slovenia.  Al spotted me on the DX Cluster and this resulted in quite a few callers from Europe and a handful of VK’s.  Countries worked were VK, Slovenia, Russia, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Serbia, France, Czech Republic, and Spain.

After working 24 stations on 20m, I decided to check out 40m.  I called CQ on 7.095 and first taker there was Mick Vk3PMG who is a big follower of WWFF as both a Hunter and Activator.  This was followed by another active park Activator & Hunter, Col VK5HCF.  And as per normal, it wasn’t long before a mini pile up commenced.  I went on to work a total of 29 stations here from VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5.

I then moved back to 20m, and I’m pleased I did.  Because I stumbled across Gerard Vk2IO calling CQ on 14.290 from SOTA peak VK2/ NT-021.  Once I finished working Gerard, Adam VK2YK came up and asked if I could QSY up to 14.310 which I did.  I worked Adam who was a ncie 5/9 signal, and Adam was also kind enough to place me on the DX cluster.  This resulted in a number of calls from both VK and Europe again.  Countries worked this time around were VK, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary, and Canada.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I was very pleased with the results of this activation with a total of 73 contacts in the log.  This was another unique WWFF park that I had qualified.

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4HBB
2. VK7VDL
3. VK2KF
4. S58AL
5. RW6AEW
6. VK2GKA
7. DF8WZ
8. I5FLN
9. DL2ND
10. IZ2IHO
11. HA8TI
12. DF2RR
13. VK5BJE
14. HA5MA
15. YU1AB
16. F5OUD
17. S52KM
18. OK1XP
19. RA3PCI
20. F1BLL
21. DK0EE
22. EA7TR
23. VK7ZGK
24. VK4MJA
25. VK2IO/p (SOTA VK2/ NT-021)
26. VK2YK
27. ON4BB
28. DL4MDO
29. VK6HAD
30. VK4HNS
31. IK2SAV
32. EA4DTV
33. IZ5JMZ
34. IW2NXI
35. OK2TS
36. IK1GPG
37. UT5PI
38. I8OCA
39. VE7CV
40. DL3NDD
41. HA6OB
42. DL5MPO
43. UR7ET
44. HA0LG

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PMG
2. VK5HCF
3. VK5GK
4. VK5HEL
5. VK5JK
6. VK2LX
7. VK3OF
8. VK5FANA
9. VK1AT/3
10. VK3PF/m
11. VK5FAJS
12. VK5BJE
13. VK5MBD
14. VK3FSMT/2
15. VK3DBP
16. VK3AV
17. VK3ANL
18. VK4CPS
19. VK3CAB
20. VK3TKK
21. VK5WG
22. VK2NP
23. VK2NNN
24. VK3FJAE
25. VK3NBL
26. VK2SK
27. VK2QS
28. VK4GSF
29. VK5FTVR

References.

National Parks and Wildlife Service-Department of Environment and Planning, 1990, Small Parks of the Lower South East Management Plans

It was my final day in the South East (Tuesday 9th June) and I had planned to activate three parks: Gower Conservation Park, Calectasia Conservation Park, and the Penola Conservation Park.  All three were to be unique parks for me, for both the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award and also World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF).

My first park was the Gower Conservation Park which is situated about 25 km north west of Mount Gambier.

Gower Conservation Park was gazetted on the 21st day of January 1971 and covers an area of around 39.5 hectares.   The vegetation in the park mostly consists of an open forest of messmate stringybark and brown stringybark with a shrub understorey of austral bracken and some spike wattle, grass tree, and silverleaved banksia.  In the south of the park you can find barked manna gum and large black wattle.

I headed out of Mount Gambier, heading north west on the Princes Highway, heading back towards Adelaide.  Just after the Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park, is a road to your right called McPherson Road.  This takes you direct to the park, passed an old quarry on your right and the pine forest on your left.

I set up in a little clearing just to the east of the north western corner of the park.  There was plenty of room here to string out the dipole and because I had two convenient gum trees, I was able to get the ends of the legs quite high off the ground.  It was a much more pleasant day than Monday,  The sun was out, although it was still a typical cold June day down in the South East.

I called CQ on 7.095 and this was immediately answered by Col VK5HCF from Mount Gambier, who has previously activated Gower.  This was followed by Jeff VK5JK at Encounter Bay on the South Coast, Jim VK3AT/3, and then Tony VK5FTVR at Strathalbyn on the Fleurieu Peninsula.  All signals were 5/9 and above.  The band was in great shape.

I worked a steady flow of VK’s from VK2, VK3, VK5, & VK6, until there was a call ‘out of the box’.  I knew it was a Russian station or a Ukrainian station but struggled a bit with getting his call.  I penned in UA6IDX into my log who gave me a 5/3 report, but before I could confirm his call, he had gone.  A few calls later I spoke with Mike VK6MB who was with Michael VK6MMB in VKFF-161.  They confirmed that the call was in fact UA6IDX that had called me.

I worked numerous mobile stations during this activation.  They included Peter VK3TKK, Gerard VK2IO mobile on his way to a SOTA peak, Bob VK2AOR mobile on the M1 Freeway coming into Sydney, Gerard VK2JNG, Peter VK3PRF, Craig VK3NCR/5 mobile 160 km north of Port Augusta, Terry VK3UP, David VK5KC mobile at Orroroo in the Mid North, and Doug VK3FDES.  During most of my activations, I always ask for QRP, mobile, portable and outside of VK callers.  It is amazing how many of these stations come back to you, who would ordinarily be competing with many home stations running amps.

After working a total of 45 stations on 40m I headed over to 20m where I called CQ on 14.310.  Gerard VK2JNG had followed me over and was my first contact on 20.  This was followed by contacts with Cliff VK2NP, Bill VK5BMD, Neil VK4HNS and my final contact was with Stath VK4AEP who called just as I was packing up gear into the 4WD.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Another successful activation under my belt with a total of 50 contacts.  The park had been qualified for WWFF.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5HCF
2. VK5JK
3. VK1AT/3
4. VK5FTVR
5. VK5FANG
6. VK5BJE
7. VK3TKK/m
8. VK5FANA
9. VK3ZZS/4
10. VK3NBV
11. VK3PMG
12. VK3FQSO
13. VK2GKA
14. VK5ZAR
15. VK2IO/m
16. VK6RZ
17. VK5IS
18. VK3HQ
19. VK2NP
20. VK2AOR/m
21. VK3OF
22. VK2HV
23. VK5ZGY
24. VK5NPP/3
25. VK3AV
26. UA6IDX
27. VK3FOWL/p
28. VK2JNG/m
29. VK3PRF/m
30. VK6MMB/p (VKFF-161)
31. VK6MB/p (VKFF-161)
32. VK3NCR/5
33. VK3TJK
34. VK7FGGT
35. VK3UP/m
36. VK3ZLD
37. VK5KC/m
38. VK3FGMO
39. VK5RU
40. VK3FDES/m
41. VK5WG
42. VK5TD
43. VK5FIVE
44. VK5MBD
45. VK2YW

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK2JNG/m
2. VK2NP
3. VK5MBD
4. VK4HNS
5. VK4AEP

References.

National Parks and Wildlife Service-Department of Environment and Planning, 1990, Small Parks of the Lower South East Management Plans

My first park activation for Monday 8th June 2015 was the Telford Scrub Conservation Park, which is located just 14 km north of Mount Gambier, via the Riddoch Highway.  Although I had activated this park previously, Telford Scrub was recently added to the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program, so I was looking for 44 contacts.

Above:- Map showing the location of the park.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

It was another quick stopover at McDonalds for a Bacon & Egg McMuffin and an orange juice, and I then headed out along the Riddoch Highway.  Sadly, as is the case with numerous South Australian Conservation Parks, there are no signs on the Highway alerting you to the presence of a park.  I used the GPS to get there and turned off the Riddoch Highway into Grundys Lane.  The park is just a short distance up on the right, on the northern side of Grundys Lane.

As it was early morning (8.00 a.m.), there were plenty of kangaroos out grazing in the clearing between the roadway and the pine forest which is situated opposite the park.  As per my last activation, I set up in the north eastern corner of the carpark.

Above:- Map showing my operating location in the park.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

This is a magnificent park consiting of amazing Eucalyptus forest and bracken understorey.  But sadly this activation summed up the mess that South Australian Parks and the ‘system’ is in.  As I pulled in to the carpark, the first thing I saw was a television set which had been dumped in the carpark.  Who knows how long it had been there.  And half way through operating I had an interesting encounter with an elderly lady and her Golden Retriever.  Other than having a go at me for being in ‘her park’ (despite the fact that there were numerous other parks available), her dog was running around off the lead and kept jumping up on me and at one stage almost knocked over my table.  Without any apology, off she started to walk into the park with her do.  Despite the very clear sign that showed dogs were not allowed in the park.  I pointed this out to her, and after some complaining under her breath, off she walked along Grundy’s Lane.  In all probability, she has been walking her dog off the leash in the park for a long time, completely unfettered by DEWNR.

After packing up I went for a walk through the park and along the boardwalk (I’ll talk about this more later) and tried to read the interpretive signs which were totally covered in muck.  They clearly had not been cleaned in a long time.

For me, this highlighted the big problem we have here in South Australia with our beautiful parks.  I can only presume that DEWNR is sadly understaffed and under funded.  If it wasn’t for the dedication of the Friends of the Parks groups, I can only imagine what state the parks would be in.

Anyway, onto more positive thoughts.  The Telford Scrub Conservation Park is about 175 hectares in size and was once farmed by the Telford Brothers who subsequently sold the land to the Government.  The park contains at least 11 species of plants considered to be of conservation value.  Numerous native orchids can be found.  In fact, over 20 species have been recorded including Pink Fingers, Common Donkey orchid, Tiger orchid, and Purple Cockatoo.

The park is home to a wide range of native fauna including Western Grey kangaroos and echidnas.  Several koalas were reintroduced into the park in 1997 from Kangaroo Island.  The vulnerable Southern Brown Bandicoot and endangered Sugar Glider are also found in the park.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My first contact in the park was with Craig VK2PAW who came back to my CQ call on 7.098.  This was followed by Scott VK7NWT, Steve VK3FSPG and John VK5FMJC.  Not long after setting up, I had 2 visitors.  It was Rod VK5KFB and his dad, Murray VK5BWA.  They had a quick look at my operating gear and then headed off enroute to Adelaide.

Conditions on 40m were very good, and a nice little flow of callers came back to my CQ calls, from all around Australia.  There were a number of the regular park hunters, but also a few new calls as well, which is always pleasing.  I worked 53 stations before the UTC rollover.  I even got to work a station in my own home town of Mount Barker, Kev VK5KS.  I managed one park contact and that was with Mike VK6MB who was portable in Frank Hann National Park, VKFF-183.

After the UTC rollover I worked a further 10 stations including Mike VK6MB again, and also Michael VK6MMB who was with Mike in the Frank Hann National Park.  I also spoke with Julie VK3FOWL who was portable on SOTA peak Mount Disapointment VK3/ VC-014.

After working a total of 60 stations on 40m I headed over to 20m and called CQ on 14.310.  My CQ call was answered by Adrian VK5AW/p who was extremely weak.  In fact almost totally unreadable.  This was followed by Jim VK2QA, who kindly helped me out with Adrian.  And my final contact was with Peter VK6RZ with a nice 5/8 signal from Western Australia.

At the end of the activation and packing up my gear, I went for a walk into the park along the track from the carpark.  This leads to a  beautiful picnic area with a bench and table.  There are some interpretive signs along the way telling you about the forest.  A 100 metre long and 4.2 metre high ‘Forest Canopy Walk’ boardwalk provides visitors to the park a unique ‘bird’s eye view’ of the forest.  There are also some extended trails that can be followed as well.  Unfortunately I didn’t have time to try those out, but I will be back.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This was another successful activation.  I had reached the 44 QSO threshold for WWFF, with a total of 63 contacts in the log.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK2PAW
2. VK7NWT
3. VK3FSPG
4. VK5FMJC
5. VK3PMG
6. VK5KLV
7. VK6RZ
8. VK5TRM/m
9. VK3FQSO
10. VK5HEL
11. VK3DQ/p
12. VK5MBD
13. VK5HS/p
14. VK5FTVR
15. VK5ZAR
16. VK3OF
17. VK5BJE
18. VK1AT/3
19. VK5JK
20. VK4HNS/m
21. VK3NML/p
22. VK5AW/m
23. VK3KTO/2
24. VK3FBNG
25. VK2YK
26. VK3HKV
27. VK5ATQ
28. VK5KS
29. VK3FSMT/2
30. VK6MB/p (VKFF-183)
31. VK5TW
32. VK5FLEX/p
33. VK5FMID
34. VK7BO
35. VK3DBP
36. VK5ZK
37. VK3YE
38. VK4FFAB
39. VK3VIN
40. VK5FD
41. VK5ZGY/m
42. VK5NQP
43. VK3MEG
44. VK5KFB/m
45. VK3TKK
46. VK6MMB/p
47. VK3NCR/5
48. VK3PF
49. VK5FAJS
50. VK2NP
51. VK2HV
52. VK3FCCC
53. VK5FANA
54. VK5BGN
55. VK3MIJ
56. VK5QI/m
57. VK6MB/p (VKFF-183)
58. VK6MMB/p (VKFF-183)
59. VK5LDM
60. VK3FOWL/p (SOTA Mt Disapointment)

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK5AW/p
2. VK2QA
3. VK6RZ

References.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2010, Telford Scrub Conservation Park brochure.

Postcards, 2009, <http://www.postcards-sa.com.au/features2009/telford_scrub_park.html&gt;,viewed 12th June 2015

My first park for Sunday morning, 7th June 2015 was the Ewens Ponds Conservation Park which is situated about 36 km south east of Mount Gambier.  This was my only planned park activation for the day, but as it turned out, I also ventured over to Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park after this activation.  Ewen Ponds was another unique park for me for both the VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award, and the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Above:- Map showing the location of the park.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

Ewens Ponds Conservation Park was constituted in 1976 and covers a small area of about 24 hectares.  The park contains spring fed limestone ponds which are linked by shallow channels.  The channels actually connect three basin shaped ponds which are about 10 metres deep.  The clarity of the water enables water plants to grow underwater to a depth of about 6 metres.  Many of these plants are not found growing fully submerged underwater anywhere else in the world.

The ponds are very popular with scuba divers and snorkellers.  The minimum qualification for divers is ‘open water’.  In fact whilst I was set up, a couple arrived to go scuba diving in the ponds.  Due to the cold water and the potential for damage to the aquatic environment, swimming is not allowed.

The ponds have a large fish population including the endangered Gold Pygmy Perch.  In fact the ponds are one of only three recorded locations for the Gold Pygmy Perch.  The ponds are also home to populations of flatworms, freshwater crayfish, and mussels, and the larva of the carnivorous caddis fly.

The history behind the discovery of the ponds is extremely interesting.  The first European associated with the area was Thoms Ewens.  His dog chased a kangaroo into one of the ponds.  The land surrounding the ponds was gradually cleared for agricultural purposes and dairy farming.  A drainage system was constructed to draw water from the ponds for land sold for soldier settlement programs after the Second World War.  In 1978 a trout farm was established utilising the waters flowing through Ewens Ponds.

Above:- My operating spot.  Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

After setting up, I decided to head up to the WWFF calling frequency of 7.144.  It was only 8.20 a.m. and there was still quite a bit of DX on the band.  It was quite difficult to find a clear frequency below 7.100.  I called CQ on 7.144 and this was answered by Andy VK5AKH who was mobile at Kingston on Murray with a very strong 5/9 signal.  This was followed by Tony VK5FTVR, and then Mark VK5QI who was also mobile up in the Riverland for the Canoe Marathon.

Conditions on 40m were exceptionally good and I had a nice little park pile up going for quite a while with callers from VK2, VK3, VK5, VK6 & ZL.  I was quite surprised when I head Ken ZL4KD amongst all the park hunters calling me.  Ken had a very good 5/7 signal coming into Ewens Ponds from Christchurch.

It was also nice to get a couple of the regular QRP hunters in the log.  They were Adrian VK5FANA running his typical 5 watts from the Yorke Peninsula (5/9 both ways), and Amanda VK3FQSO running 500 milliwatts (5/8 sent and 5/9 received).

At about 2335 UTC I took a break to have a chat to the diver and his wife who had arrived at Ewens Ponds.  It was interesting to hear their comments about how the water within the ponds had become cloudier over the years, possibly due to run off from the surrounding farms.

By the time I had got back to the radio, the WIA broadcast had commenced on 7.140, so I headed back down the band and found Nigel VK5NIG calling CQ for the VK Shires Contest.  I gave Nigel a signal report and my Shire code which was GD5, and then headed for 7.100 and started calling CQ.  Most of the European DX had disappeared at this time.  My CQ call was answered by Brian VK5FMID at nearby Mount Gambier, and this was followed by Joe VK3YSP.  After the UTC rollover I was called by Mark VK1EM, Dave VK2BDR, John VK5FMJC and Julie VK3FOWL who was mobile.

I went on to work a further 25 stations on 7.100 in VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK6.  The band was working perfectly, with great signals coming in from across Australia.  I had a few interesting contacts including Rob VK4AAB/5 on Kangaroo Island OC-139, and Ian VK5CZ who was portable on SOTA peak, Hallett Hill VK5-SE-003.

I also tried 20m and called CQ on 14.310 and this was answered by Paul VK2KKT, Peter VK6RZ, and David VK4DPM, all of whom were 5/9 to the South East of South AUstralia.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After a little over 90 minutes operating, I had a total of 66 contacts in the log.  I had qualified another park for the WWFF program.  It was time to pack up and head off to Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park.  I wanted to sneak in that activation prior to getting back to Mount Gambier for the SERG Convention.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5AKH/m
2. VK5FTVR
3. VK5QI/m
4. VK5FANA
5. VK3FONZ
6. VK3YE/p
7. VK6DW
8. VK3VH
9. VK5KLV
10. VK3OF
11. VK3FAAJ/p
12. VK3DBP
13. VK3TKK/m
14. VK5BJE
15. VK3PMG
16. VK5FTCT
17. VK5ZAR
18. VK2NP
19. VK3MCX
20. ZL4KD
21. VK5LSB
22. VK5FAJS/m
23. VK3PF
24. VK5KFB/m
25. VK2DEK
26. VK2YK
27. VK3FQSO
28. VK5NQP
29. VK6FLAB
30. VK5NJ
31. VK3HK
32. VK5HS/m
33. VK5FLEX/m
34. VK5ZRY
35. VK5NIG
36. VK5FMID
37. VK3YSP/m
38. VK1EM
39. VK2BDR
40. VK5FMJC
41. VK3FOWL/m
42. VK3TST/p
43. VK5WG
44. VK5IY
45. VK4AAC/5
46. VK2PAW
47. VK5FTRG
48. VK1DR
49. VK2MT/p
50. VK5IS
51. VK7FGGT
52. VK3VTH/m
53. VK1AT/3
54. VK2MCB
55. VK5CZ/p
56. VK5LY
57. VK5BGN
58. VK3FACI/p
59. VK5ND
60. VK5NRG
61. VK5JK
62. VK3AFW
63. VK3WMM

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK2KTT
2. VK6RZ
3. VK4DPM

References

National Parks South Australia, 2015, <http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/Limestone_Coast/Ewens_Ponds_Conservation_Park&gt;, viewed 12th June 2015

Natural Resources Group, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 1994, Small Inland Parks of the South East Management Plan.

Wikipedia, 2015, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewens_Ponds&gt;, viewed 12th June 2015