After leaving Mount Clay, Marija and I drove back to the Princes Highway and continued east through Tyrendarra and Tyrrendarra East.  We stoppe briefly at the Codrington Wind Farm for a cup of coffee and some cake.

The Codrington wind farm was Australia’s first commercial wind farm and was officially opened in July 2001.  A the time of its opening, it was also the largest wind farm iun Australia, with 14 turbines and an installed capacity of 18.2 MW.  The wind farm now generates enough electricity each year to supply the equivalent of 10,000 Victorian homes and each year avoids the emission of 49,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent to taking more than 17,000 cars off the roads.

We continued on towards Port Fairy, kwhere we intended to have some lunch.  Along the way we passed through Yambuck and then took Craggs Road down to a little spot on the coast called The Crags, which is one of the most rugged and wild sections of Victoria’s coastline.  It is just 12 km west of Port Fairy.  Off the coast you can see Lady Julia Percy Island, which is home to more than 4000 seals, fairy penguins, birds of prey and has the largest Australian rookeries of fairy prions and diving petrels.

There is also a monument here, which was erected in memory of four Royal Australian Air Force personnel who lost their lives when their plane lost contact with its base in Mount Gambier on February 15th 1944.  The crew attempted to land the plane, which was an Avro Anson, on Lady Julia Island, but crashed.  The aircraft was on submarine surveillance at the time.

For more information, please see…..

http://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/vic181.htm

We then drove in to Port Fairy which is a beautiful little town of around 2,600 people.  The town was originally known as Belfast.  At its peak, the port was the second busiest in Australia.  Wool, wheat, and grain were loaded onto sailing ships bound for England.

After stopping at the Visitor Information Centre, we went on the Port Fairy historic walk.  It was a beautiful afternoon walk in the sunshine, and there are over 50 buildings from the boom area of the town, classified by Australia’s National Trust.

One of the oldest houses in Victoria, in Regent St Port Fairy

Former courthouse, 1859

Merrjig Inn, c. 1842

Motts cottage, c. 1840s

We then went on the Griffiths Island Lighthouse walk.  The lighthouse was built in 1859 at the tip of Rabbit Island.  As we pulled up I worked Brian VK3MCD who was on a SOTA summit.

We also stopped off to have a look at Battery Hill.  The site of the Port Fairy Battery was used for defence purposes from 1867, when a 32 pdr smooth-bore muzzle-loaded artillery piece was installed.  Another was installed in 1872.  Further defences were added in 1874 including a redoubt.  In 1877, more permanent fortifications were constructed and 2 years later, two 80 pdr rifled muzzle-loaded Armstrong artillery pieces with iron traversing carriages were installed in concrete emplacements.

We then enjoyed some lunch down by the Moyne River which flows through the town of Port Fairy.  We were joined by some very cheeky ravens and seagulls.  It was around this time that I worked Brian VK3MCD, who was on another SOTA peak.

We continued on to the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, which is located between Port Fairy and Warrnambool.  This park is a major natural landmark and is a giant maar or volcanic explosion crater.  It is of international and national geological significance.  Unfortunately we did not get enough time to explore here, and this park is definitely on our list when we return to the area.  I am even thinking about adding it to the Victorian parks list for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

For more information on Tower Hill, please see…..

http://www.towerhill.org.au/

After leaving Tower Hill, we continued on in to Warrnambool, where we booked in to our motel, The Blue Whale, and later that night enjoyed a very nice meal at the Whalers Hotel.

References.

Glenelg Shire, Guns & Cannon along Victoria’s South West Coastline.

Pacific Hydro, 2015, <http://www.pacifichydro.com.au/english/projects/operations/codrington-wind-farm/&gt;, viewed 4th December 2015

Port Fairy-Moyne Shire, 2015, <http://www.visitportfairy-moyneshire.com.au/activitiesattractions/coastal/476-the-crags-end-to-a-great-ocean-adventure&gt;, viewed 4th December 2015

After packing up at the Discovery Bay Coastal Park, Marija and I continued our journey south east along the Portland-Nelson Road.  We stopped off a number of times along the way to our destination of Portland, to admire the views of Discovery Bay and the Great Australian Bight.  We then booked in to our motel in Portland which was the Melaleuca Motel (neat, tidy, friendly staff).

After unpacking the 4WD, we headed to our second park activation of the day, the Discovery Bay Marine National Park, VKFF-0949, situated about 20 km west of Portland in South Western Victoria and about 380 km west of Melbourne.  The park is part of a system of 13 Marine National Parks and 11 Marine Sanctuaries in Victoria.

Above:- Map showing the location of the park.  Courtesy of Forest Explorer.

We travelled west out of Portland on the Bridgewater Road and then took Knights and Parkers Road.  We then turned left onto Kitson Road and then right onto Discovery  Bay Road.  This is a no through road which leads to a small parking area overlooking the ocean.  From here there is a walking track which takes you down to the beach and the northern most part of the Discovery Bay Marine National Park.

Another option is to take Amos Road, which again is a no through road, but maps show that there is a walking track down to the beach at that location as well.  A little further to the south is Peacocks Road but it appears there is no access to the beach from there.  Blowholes Road is further to the south, however, the Marine National Park is quite some distance off shore at this point.

The park which was established in November 2002, is Victoria’s marine gateway to the Great Australian Bight and the immense expanse of the Southern Ocean.  The park protects part of the largest coastal basalt formation in western Victoria.  The park is framed by the cliffs of Cape Bridgewater to the east and the white sand dunes of Discovery Bay to the north.  The park covers 2,770 hectares adjacent to Cape Bridgewater along the coast from Blacks Beach to Whites Beach and offshore to three nautical miles, the limit of Victorian waters.  Between Whites Beach and Cape Duqesne, the park boundary commences 500 metres from the coastline.

Above:- Map showing the Discovery Bay Marine NP.  Courtesy of Parks Victoria.

There is a rich diversity of marine life within the park due to the cold, nutrient rich waters of the area.  Southern Rock Lobster and the very rare Southern Hooded Shrimp are found here, and the waters also support Great White Sharks and during the summer breeding season, Blue Whales.  Other inhabitants of the waters include Fur Seals and dolphins.

Birdlife here is amazing and includes Australasian Gannets, Pacific Gulls, Common Diving Petrels, and Wandering Albatrosses.

A natural occurrence called the Bonney Upwelling is the cause for the nutrient rich waters.  This occurs when cold, nutrient rich water is brought up from the ocean floor and in turn these nutrients trigger the growth of microscopic plants, which form the building blocks of the complex food web.   Creatures such as Blue Whales feed on swarms of crustaceans known as krill and sponges filter tiny invertebrates from the water. Sharks, seals, gannets and many other animals feed on the schools of fish also benefitting from the nutrient rich waters.  Upwelling events like this only cover 1% of the ocean surface worldwide, and this is the only deep water upwelling event which occurs in Australian waters.

The average depth of the water in the park increases gently, away from the shoreline, to a maximum depth of around 75 metres in the south west area of the park.  In the deep water in the west of the park, sponge gardens thrive.  Sponges, which can be found on most reefs throughout the park, are unique filter feeding animals, and come in a wide variety of colours, shapes, and sizes.

Nearby is the Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm, which powers around 35,000 Victorian homes every year.  The wind farm was completed in 2008 and comprises 29 wind generators.

Upon reaching the end of Discovery Bay Road, we parked the car, and packed up the gear into our backpacks.  As I mentioned there is a carpark here, but you are a bit over the 100 metre allowable distance in the World Wide Flora Fauna program for Marine National Park operation.  So to play it safe, we decided to walk down the track a bit through the sand dunes, closer to the water.

The track leading down to the beach looks a lot worse than what it really is.  The walk down (and back up) is not all that bad.  Perhaps a little bit of a calf burner on the way up due to having to tramp through the sand.

As we walked down the track, we noticed that there were a lot of native flowers out in bloom.  This is actually within the Discovery Bay Coastal Park which abuts the Discovery Bay Marine National Park.  A section of the Great South Walk also passes through here.

You are also rewarded with some nice views of the coast and the surrounding countryside.

View to the north of Bridgewater Lakes

The beach at Discovery Bay Marine NP

This area of the coastline overlooks Descartes Bay in the Discovery Bay Marine National Park.  Descartes Bay has a sandy seafloor and is home to a large variety of marine creatures.  Some samples of the sediment in the park found over 688 microscopic organisms.  Most of these animals are very small crustaceans known as amphipods.

Above:- Map showing our operating spot.  Image courtesy of Forest Explorer

As we were not planning on being at the park for long, comfort didn’t come into the equation during this activation.  I propped on the track, changing positions from sitting to kneeling and avoiding sand and pants down the back of my tracksuit pants.

After setting up I headed for my nominated operating frequency of 7.144 and called CQ.  This was answered by Ivan VK5HS who was mobile, followed by John VK5BJE, Mike VK3ZMD and then Brett VK2VW.  All had reasonable signals.  Certainly nowhere near as strong though as I normally hear John and Brett.  And my signal reports coming back from South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales, were well down from usual.  But I was making contacts, and that’s all that counted.

I had quite a steady flow of callers during the activation, especially considering that this was a work day.   Callers on 40m were from South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania.  After working a total of 26 stations on 40m, I decided to try my luck on 20m.

My first contact on 20m was with Mr. Reliable, Rick VK4RF/VK4HA.  But despite numerous CQ calls and being placed on the DX Cluster by Rick, I had no more takers.  So tuned across the band and the only European signal that I heard was SV3AQR calling CQ, and he was not strong at all.  It was a little too early for Europe to be coming in on the long path.

I briefly joined the ANZA DX Net on 14.183 and worked two VK4’s there and my mate Ted VK6NTE who had his normal big signal.  But the Net soon wrapped up, and as their was not much activity on 20m, I decided to head back to 40m and put out more CQ calls, hoping to reach my 44 QSO threshold.  I had 31 contacts in the log, and just needed another 13 contacts to get there.  I went back to 7.144 and called CQ and this was answered by Barry VK5BW, followed by Rob VK3FENV, and then Ian VK1DI.

Unfortunately I started suffering from major QRM from a VK Net on 7.146 and I was forced to QSY.  I went down the band to 7.098 and worked a further 9 stations in VK2, VK3, VK5 and VK7.

It was now just a little after 4.00 p.m. Victorian local time, and I had a total of 49 contacts in the log.  I was happy as I had qualified the park for WWFF.

Marija and I took a brief stroll down to the beach, and then climbed back up the track through the sand dunes, back to the 4WD.

Thanks to Rick VK4RF for spotting me on the DX Cluster, and the VKFF & SOTA Facebook page.

The following stations were worked:-

1. VK5HS/m
2. VK5BJE
3. VK3ZMD
4. VK2VW
5. VK2HHA
6. VK5AKH
7. VK3PF
8. VK2NEO
9. VK5NRG
10. VK5WG
11. VK7LTD
12. VK3PMG
13. VK3MRH
14. VK3FINE
15. VK3BY
16. VK7CW
17. VK2PKT
18. VK5MBD
19. VK5PL
20. VK5CZ
21. VK5FBAC
22. VK3GQ/5
23. VK4RF
24. VK4HA
25. VK5FANA
26. VK5BGN
27. VK5BW
28. VK3FENV
29. VK1DI
30. VK7FRJG
31. VK3MCX
32. VK2IO
33. VK5LG/p
34. VK5HOS
35. VK3FSPG
36. VK5ND
37. VK5VRT
38. VK3TKK
39. VK5FTVVR
40. VK7NWT
41. VK2MOR
42. VK2JAZ
43. VK5GI
44. VK5KKT

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4RF
2. VK4HA
3. VK4CC
4. VK6NTE
5. VK4LJ

After the activation, we drove down the Bridgewater Road and then on to Blowholes Road, to have a look at the southern section of the park.  There are some nice walks here and a number of interpretive signs.  One of the walks we undertook was to have a look at the ‘Petrified Forest’.  The formation is a collection of hollow tubes of limestone called ‘solution pipes’, eroded by millions of years of rainfall.

The southern end of the park

The ‘Petrified Forest’

Marija at the ‘Petrified Forest’

References.

Parks Victoria, 2015, <http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/discovery-bay-marine-national-park&gt;, viewed 3rd December 2015

Our one and only activation for Sunday 8th November 2015 was the Peebinga Conservation Park, VKFF-0830, which is situated about 240 km east of Adelaide and just 10 km west of the Victorian border.

Above:- Map showing the location of the park.  Image courtesy of Property Location Browser.

After leaving the motel early on Sunday morning, we headed back to the Renmark Hospital to catch up with Larry VK5LY.  We spent a short time there and then had a quick look around Renmark, before heading out of town.

Murray River at Renmark showing the flood markers

The PS Industry, built 1911

Strange houseboat at Renmark

Vines at Renmark

We travelled out of Renmark on the Sturt Highway passing the Murray River National Park and into the town of Berri.  We then headed south on the Bookpurnong Road, travelling over the bridge over the mighty Murray River.  We continued on to Loxton and south on Browns Well Highway through the little towns of Paruna and Kringin.

We soon reached the area of Peebinga and the intersection of the Browns Well Highway, Kringin Road and Ziersch Road.  There is a clearly visible Conservation Park sign here on the north eastern corner of the park.

Peebinga Conservation Park is about 8,401 acres in size, and was originally known as the Peebinga Flora and Fauna Reserve.  It was proclaimed as a Conservation Park in 1977.  The land conserved within Peebinga was originally subject to farming.  Peebinga was set aside to conserve the habitat of the rare Western Whipbird.  The park has also been identified by BirdLife International as an Importnant Bird Area as it supports a relatively large population of Malleefowl.

The park is characterised by grassland, low stablised dunes with oper scub cover featuring Ridge-fruited and Slender-leaved Mallee with Warty Cypress over Broom Bush.  The higher areas in the park have Square-fruited, Red and White Mallees.  A total of 150 native flora species have been recorded in Peebinga Conservation Park, including 14 of conservation significance.  The park contains a wife variety of wildlife including Western Grey kangaroos and Echidnas.

Typical mallee vegetation in the park

Shingleback lizard

We drove up to the southern boundary of the park on Browns Well Highway looking for a clearing in the mallee vegetation.  There were no obvious operating spots, so we drove back towards Kringin Road and found a small clearing in the scrub.  In hindsight, some other options should you decide to activate this park, are to travel down Kringin Road to the little area of Kringin where a dirt track runs off Kringin Road to the south, through the park.  Or continue down to Conservation Road which runs south off Kringin Road, cutting through the park.  This is opposite the property called ‘Mootatunga’.

Above:- Map showing our operating spot in the park.  Image courtesy of Property Location Browser.

We were set up and ready to go by 2320 UTC (8.50 a.m. South Australian time).  I could not get onto my nominated operating frequency of 7.144 due to the New South Wales WIA broadcast on 7.146, so I started calling CQ on 7.140.  The first park hunter of the morning was Gary VK2FABE who was very weak but very readable from Cowra in New South Wales (5/1 sent and 5/3 received).

I decided to vacate this area of the 40m band due to the various Sunday morning WIA broadcasts and I headed down to 7.090.  On the way I had a listen on 7.135 for the South Australian WIA broadcast and I could barely hear Hans VK5YX, the WIA relay station.  This was not a good sign.  Clearly the close in propagation was not working on 40m.

Upon reaching 7.090 I asked if the frequency was in use and my query was immediately answered by Ray VK3NBL in Melbourne (5/7 sent and 5/5 received).  Next up was Scott VK7NWT who was 5/7 from Sisters Beach in Tasmania (5/2 received).  Peter VK3PF then called in (5/7 sent and 5/5 received).  Things were not looking good.  Signals were well down.  It was not looking promising on reaching my required 44 contacts.

My fifth contact was with Mike VK3XL who was operating portable from the Alpine National Park, VKFF-0619.  Mike had a nice 5/7 signal and gave me a 5/8.  A few calls later I spoke with Tony VK3CAT who was activating SOTA summit Mount Little Joe, VK3/ VC-027 (5/5 both ways).  This was followed by another SOTA contact, this time with Marc VK3OHM who was activating SOTA peak Mount Macedon, VK3/ VC-007 (5/5 sent and 5/6 received).

I worked a total of 16 stations on 7.090, all of whom had QSB on their signals and were reporting QSB on my signal.  I also heard Rick VK4RF calling me on a few occasions but he was very very low down and clearly could not hear me.  The Western Australia WIA broadcast had now started up on 7.088 and was causing me some grief, so I decided to QSY to 20m to try my luck there.

I called CQ on 14.310 and this was answered by Rick VK4RF, this time with a nice strong 5/9 signal.  This was followed by calls from Brett VK2VW, John VK6NU (4/1 both ways), Rober VK2XXM, Greg VK8GM from Alice Springs, and then Peter VK4ACO.  I called CQ many many times after my QSO with Peter, but sadly there were no more takers.  I tuned across the 20m band to see what was happening, and I did not hear a single signal.  Unfortunately we had no mobile phone coverage with either Telstra or Optus, so I was not able to send out an SMS or spot myself on parksnpeaks.

I now had 25 contacts in the log and was well short of my required 44, so I headed back to 40m and found Brenton VK3CM on 7.090 testing a transceiver.  I gave Brenton a call and we had a good QSO, despite the fact that signal strengths were well down (5/1 both ways).  Brenton kindly gave me the frequency and I went on to work Mark VK7FMPR in Tasmania, Col VK3LED, and Mike VK3AY.  But signals were down and there were no further takers.  I tuned across the 40m band to gauge conditions and the only signal I heard was Aub VK3Q speaking with another VK3 (who was inaudible) on 7.120.

I headed back to 7.090 and called CQ again and this was answered by Dennis VK2HHA who informed me that he had tried listening for me on 20m but could not hear me.  I only managed three more contacts on 40, before the heat, the flies and the poor band conditions had got the better of me.  I had fallen short of the required 44 contacts, with just 32 QSOs in the log.  I will have to head back to Peebinga another time.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK2FABE
2. VK3NBL
3. VK7NWT
4. VK3PF
5. VK3XL/p (Alpine National Park VKFF-0619)
6. VK3AFW
7. VK3CAT/p (SOTA VK3/ VC-027)
8. VK3OHM/p (SOTA VK3/ VC-007)
9. VK2ABT
10. VK3TKK
11. VK3DAC
12. VK1MA
13. VK2XXM
14. VK5NPP/p
15. VK7CW
16. VK2HHA
17. VK1VIC/p
18. VK3UH
19. VK3CM
20. VK7FMPR
21. VK3LED
22. VK3AY
23. VK3NW
24. VK3BJM
25. VK3OB

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4RF
2. VK4HA
3. VK2VW
4. VK6NU
5. VK2XXM
6. VK8GM
7. VK4ACO

Not far down the road from the park we discovered two feral goats grazing in a paddock on the fringe of the park.  Goat control programs have been implemented within the parks in the area in the past, to try to reduce numbers.

We continued on the Browns Well Highway and stopped briefly to look at two monuments at Yarrahville, which once had a Methodist church and a school.  Nothing remains of these buildings today.

The land out here was very dry with occasional irrigation of crops.  It is quite a remote location.  We then reached the town of Pinnaroo and then travelled south on the Ngarkat Highway, eventually passing through the very vast Ngarkat Conservation Park, which I had activated a few weeks earlier.

Just after leaving Ngarkat we saw two ambulances and a few CFS applicances heading north.  A check on Marija’s iphone revealed that there had been a light aircraft incident at an area called McCallum on the southern outskirts of Ngarkat.  We didn’t see anything on the news that night, so we can only presume that the outcome was a possitive one.

We then reached Cannawigara and the intersection with the Dukes Highway.  It was here that we travelled south east to Bordertown and then travelled south on the Bordertown-Narracoorte Road and then the Riddoch Highway which took us into Narracoorte.  We were to stay with friends that night at Narracoorte.

Prior to heading to our friends house, we visited the Narracoorte Caves National Park.  I have activated this park a few times previously, so this was just a tourist stop.  We paid a visit to the Wonambi Fossil Centre and the Wet Cave.  If you are in Narracoorte, I highly recommend a visit here.  Narracoorte Caves is South Australia’s only World Heritage site and was officially recognised in 1994 due to the importance of the fossils found at the site.

After visiting the caves, we headed to our friends house, Peter & Aine, where we enjoyed a very enjoyable evening.  And even better, no hangover in the morning!

References.

Mallee Bound, 2015, <http://www.malleebound.com.au/html/peebinga-conservation-park.html&gt;, viewed 22nd November 2015.

Wikipedia, 2015, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peebinga_Conservation_Park&gt;, viewed 22nd November 2015

My very first portable activation for our trip away was the Billiatt Conservation Park, VKFF-0821, which is located about 200 km east of Adelaide, 18 km south of Alawoona and about 37km north of Lameroo.

Although I had previously activated Billiatt in 2013, this was prior to the park qualifying for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  So this was going to be a unique park for me for WWFF/VKFF.

Above:- Map showing the location of Billiatt.  Image courtesy of Property Location Browser.

We made a relatively early start from home and were on the road by 6.30 a.m. South Australian local time with the Toyota hi Lux packed to the brim for our 2 week trip.

We headed out along the South Eastern Freeway, passing Murray Bridge and over the Swanport Bridge and the mighty Murray River.  We continued on to Tailem Bend and then  travelled north east out along the Kulde Road (Karoonda Road), passing through the little town of Naturi.  We then took the Karoonda Highway and travelled through Wynarka, Wingamin, Karoonda, Borrika, Sandalwood, Halidon, Mindarie, Wanbi, and then Alawoona.

We stopped briefly at Wynarka as there is a little commemorative plaque for Methodist Minister, Rev John Blacket who conducted the first service in the area back in 1911.

Sadly, Wynarka has been in the national news of recent times, with the discovery of a young girls remains on the side of the road in a suitcase.

We continued on to Karoonda (aboriginal word meaning ‘winter camp’), the major town in the area, and then made a brief stop at another historical marker, this time at the little rural locality of Lowaldie on the north eastern side of Karoonda.  Lowaldie once contained a number of buildings, including a school, but this closed in 1940.  Today there is very little in the area.

We then briefly stopped a bit further up the road to view the historical marker for Goyders Line.  What is Goyders Line?  It is a boundary line which runs across South Australia and is corresponding to a rainfall boundary believed to indicate the edge of the area suitable for agriculture.  Basically, anything north of Goyders Line, the rainfall is not reliable enough and the land is only suitable for grazing and not cropping.

We then reached Alawoona, a little town with a population of around 250 people.  Don’t blink.  There isn’t much here.

We then drove south on Billiatt Road and soon encountered a sign for the vulnerable Malleefowl, which is a stocky ground-dwelling bird, which is about the size of a domestic chicken.  Malleefowl are shy, wary and solitary birds.  I have seen these birds, but only once.  This was in the Mount Boothby Conservation Park.  Unlike other birds, Mallefowl do not spend weeks sitting on eggs in a nest.  Rather, theMallefowl eggs are buried in a sand and compost mound that produces enough heat to incubate the eggs.  The mound is normally around one metre high and about three metres wide.

For more information on the Malleefowl, have a look at the National Malleefowl Recovery Team website at…..

http://www.nationalmalleefowl.com.au/

Above: Mallefowl.  Image courtesy of wikipedia.

After travelling about 18 km south of Alawoona, we reached the park.  There are no visitor facilities available in the park, which is quite remote and very vast.  There is no vehicular access to the park.

Above:- Map of the park.  Image courtesy of Property Location Browser.

Billiatt conserves some of the largest remnant stands of pristine mallee heath and shrubland habitat in South Australia.  It is characterised by sand dunes with a mosiac of open mallee scrub.  Ridge-fruited and red tipped slender leaf mallees add colour to the dunes with broombush growing in the mottled shade.  A total of 208 native flora species have been recorded in Billiatt.

The significant ecological value of this area was first formally recognised back in 1940, when the Billiatt and Peebinga Flora and Fauna Reserves were dedicated.  In 1979, following the acquisition of additional land, the Billiatt Conservation Park was formally proclaimed.  In more recent times the majority of Billiatt Conservation Park was recommended for protection under the Wilderness Protection Act 1992, and the Billiatt Wilderness Protection Area was proclaimed on 24th July 2008, with a small area remaining as Billiatt Conservation Park.

This is a very big park.  The Conservation Park area is about 802 hectares in size (1,980 acres), whilst the Wilderness Protection Area is about 59,125 hectares (146,101 acres) in size.

A total of 93 fauna species have been recorded with Billiatt. Native mammals recorded in Billiatt include the Common Dunnart, Mitchell’s Hopping Mouse, and the Western Grey Kangaroo.  A large variety of birds are also found here including the Striated Grass-wren, Purple-gaped honeyeater, Western whipbird, Red-lored whistler, Regent Parrot and Mallee Emu-wren, all of whose numbers are in decline.  About 18 species of reptile inhabit the park.

There were some attempts to farm the land in this are between the 1870’s and the 1930’s.  However the land remained largely uncleared.  Some old signs of early pastoral activity still exist, including old wells, bores and ruins.  The Pankina Well and ruins in the Billiatt Wilderness Protection Area are remnants of Pankina Station, which was a pastoral lease which existed over the land right up until 1979.

In early 2014, South Australia and Victoria experienced devastating bushfires.  Billiatt felt the full force of one such fire.  Just after 6.00 p.m. on the 14th January, fires ignited in the Margaret Dowling campsite in the park.  The park was completely engulfed and the fire wiped out entire populations of threatened native birds.  Over 67,000 hectares were burnt.  It wasn’t until 9 days later, on 23rd January, that the fire was declared safe.

For more information on the Billiatt fire, please see my previous post….

https://vk5pas.org/2014/02/01/

The change in the vegetation was very noticeable to Marija and I.  The park was certainly still in recovery mode.

I was set up and ready to go by 2320 UTC (7.50 a.m. South Australian local time).  I headed to my nominated operating frequency of 7.144 and asked if the frequency was in use and this was answered by a couple of stations who were already there waiting for me.  First up was Mick VK3PMG in Stawell in western Victoria with a strong 5/9 signal.  This was followed by Adrian VK5FANA on the Yorke Peninsula, who was also 5/9, and then Dennis VK2HHA, again 5/9.  Dennis has become a regular park hunter.

The 40m band was in very good condition and I did not have to call CQ after the first caller, with a constant flow of callers from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.  I had 20 contacts in the log in the first 20 minutes of the activation.  A number of the regular park hunters were in there, but it was very pleasing to see a number of new call signs also appear in my log.

Some of the South East guys called in whilst performing duties at the car racing event, the Legend of the Lakes Hillclimb.  This included Greg VK5ZGY and Tom VK5EE, both of whom had fine signals from their mobile/portable set ups.

I also worked a number of other mobile stations including Ken VK3ALA (5/8 both ways), Mike VK5FVSV mobile at Second Valley (5/7 sent and 5/9 received), and Rex VK3OF (5/4 sent and 5/6 received).

Local propagation around VK5 was very good, as was propagation to Victoria and New South Wales and Tasmania.  Signals to and from Queensland on 40m were not as strong.  Despite it being early in the morning, I had no VK6 callers.

After an hour and twenty minutes I had a total of 44 contacts in the log.  Contact number 44 was Jim VK1AT.

I went on to work a total of 54 stations on 40m.  My last caller being Stuart VK5STU who was out portable as well, activating the Hale Conservation Park, VKFF-0889, in the Adelaide Hills (5/9 both ways).

I then went up to 20m and called CQ on 14.310.  This was almost immediately answered by Gary VK8BN in Darwin, some 3,000 km to my north.  Gary had a good strong 5/8 signal to Billiatt and I was 5/5 in the Northern Territory.  This was followed by a contact with park die hard, Rick VK4HF, who also signed as VK4HA (5/9 both ways).

It was time to pack up and head off to Renmark.  I was very pleased as I had a new VKFF park under my belt with a total of 57 contacts in the log.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PMG
2. VK5FANA
3. VK2HHA
4. VK5KLV
5. VK3ZMD
6. VK5FAKV
7. VK5BJE
8. VK4AAC/5
9. VK2PKT
10. VK3HRA
11. VK3ALA/m
12. VK1DI
13. VK4RF
14. VK4HA
15. VK3VIN
16. VK3FAPH
17. VK3DAC
18. VK2IO
19. VK5FTVR
20. VK3OHM
21. VK5NIG
22. VK2YK
23. VK3SIM
24. VK3PF
25. VK7CW
26. VK3VKT
27. VK5ZGY/m
28. VK7JJJ
29. VK5EE/m
30. VK5FVSV/m
31. VK5NPP/p
32. VK3MRH
33. VK3QD
34. VK1MTS
35. VK3GC
36. VK3DCU
37. VK3CM
38. VK3FINE
39. VK3UT
40. VK5TS
41. VK5SFA
42. VK7LTD
43. VK3NKC
44. VK1AT
45. VK3OF/m
46. VK3BWZ
47. VK5WG
48. VK2NP
49. VK3FQSO
50. VK5LG
51. VK3MIJ
52. VK2MTC
53. VK2KF
54. VK5STU/p (Hale Conservation Park VKFF-0889)

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK8BN
2. VK4RF
3. VK4HA

After activating the park we headed for Renmark, travelling north on the Karoonda Highway and into Loxton.  It was here that we stopped for some lunch.

After lunch we travelled to Renmark and booked into our accomodation, the Comfort Inn, which we can highly recommend.  We then headed to the Renmark Hospital and caught up with our good friends Larry VK5LY and his wife Di.  Sadly Larry is gravely ill.  Ivan VK5HS also made a visit.  Although it was not ideal circumstances, it was fantastic to catch up with Larry.

That night, Marija and I went out for tea with Di, and Ivan and his wife Sheryl, to Ashley’s Restaurant at our Motel.  A great night and excellent food.

References.

CFS, 2015, <http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/about/history/bushfire_history.jsp&gt;, viwed 21st November 2015.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, October 2011, Reserves of the Billiatt District Supplementary Document to Management Plan 2011.

Wikipedia, 2015, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goyder%27s_Line&gt;, viewed 21st November 2015

Wikipedia, 2015, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleefowl&gt;, viewed 21st November 2015.

When I got home from my trip to VK3, I had a significant number of emails to go through.  One of those that I was pleasantly surprised to find, was from Keith VK2PKT.  Keith has become a very avid park hunter and called me regularly whilst I was away.

Keith was kind enough to have designed a certificate of appreciation for my recent trip.

Many thanks Keith.  Greatly appreciated.