This was my second visit to Budj Bim NP. First time I had only managed 6 contacts, not even enough to qualify the park for the VKFF program. This time I came in from the South end of the park, via Kellys Rd. Came across a ‘Bee Site’ which didn’t have any bees in residence, so instead made the perfect place to pull off the track and throw out the EFHW.
The weather was again forcast to rain, and it had rained quite heavily on the drive here from Port Fairy. But the rain held off for a couple of hours, allowing me to set up, complete the activation and pull back down without any issues.
I don’t know what it is about this park, but the contacts were pretty slow. Only managed 20 contacts over the space of 45 minutes. I suspect the output power levels were down a bit. And Sunday mornings always seem a bit slow. Plus band conditions weren’t as good as they had been recently.
At least the park was now qualified for the VKFF program.
After activating the park I drove round to Lake Surprise and completed the Crater Walk and the Lava Canal walk. Both were worth the effort. Another enjoyable afternoon.
The reserve was very well maintained by the local land care group, with a clearing right around the boarder and mowed vechile track up through the middle. The gate wasn’t locked, so pulled the car in and set up where I could rapidly get all the gear out of the weather if started to rain.
Desipte the weather forcast, which was for rain, the sun came out and the wind died away. Which meant this was very pleasane activation.
There were lots of birds flying and feeding. And also some kangaroo’s and wallabies.
Managed 47 contacts over about 70 minutes before the battery was complaining. Packed up and then walked the permiter before heading back home. Overall it was very pleasant.
I looked at the Yambuk Flora and Fauna Reserve last time we stayed down in Port Fairy but couldn’t work out how to access it. I drove down to the The Crags, which is at the Eastern side of the park, but there’s quite clearly no beach access and there’s nearby paddocks had signs stating they were private property.
Looking at satellite photo’s there’s a roadway down to a couple of houses on the Western side of the park. But the entry has a sign saying that’s a private driveway, so that doesn’t help either.
That left a beach access from the Yambuk public reserve, site of the famous Yambuk Giant slide. (I’d not heard of it before either.) Parked the car there on a fairly cold, wintery morning and started on a three kilometre trek up the beach. The forecast was for showers, most likely in the afternoon so I wasn’t sure if the walk was going to be washed out. It didn’t take too long for all the other human foot prints in the sand to end. While there were no people prints, there was Emu prints, who turned out to me 500 meters ahead of me. There was also lots of fox prints. I didn’t see any foxes but on the way back the prints were in places that had been cleaned by the tide since my walk in.
Emu prints leading me up the beach.
Fox prints along the beach and in the dunes.
Tracks up and back with the park in the distance.
Squid pole and operating position.
Doing my best to keep the sand out of everything.
Remains of a track that makes its way back to ‘The Crags’. Though there’s no public access that way.
Eventually I followed the Emu tracks up a small rise into the dunes, which proved to be the end of a long disused tracks.
Setup the 7m squid pole to hold up the end of the EFHW and started calling. There was zero cell service so needed to make a few contacts before one of the hunters was able to put out a spot which increased the traffic. All contacts were on 40m. I did try 20m, but got no response.
Managed 46 contacts in a bit under an hour, by which time the battery was running down and the weather was looking like it might not hold. So packed up and made the trek back to the car.
There were lots of little Hooded Plovers running around on the walk in and out. These little birds were all but wiped out in Victoria before a program to protect their nesting sites was established. Even so, seeing this many in a flock is quite rare.
Overall this was a great activation. I was very pleased I’d made the effort.
Traveling down to Port Fairy for an extended long weekend, Mortlake seemed like a good spot to have a break in the travel so made the most of the opportunity by activating the Mortlake Common Flora Reserve. The reserve is mostly grassland with a strip of well spaced gums along the front. Perfect for holding up the ends on antenna. The South West corner has the Mortlake Common Recreation Reserve which includes a BMX track. We parked there and walked into the actual common, though there might be better access points on the western boundry.
To cut down on the amount of radio gear I’d only brought along my FT-817 and my HF-Packer amp. The combination worked well, but the single battery I’d brought was only good for one activation. That’s a lesson for next time. Bring both batteries!
Managed 27 contacts over the space of about 40 minutes, by which time the resposes had slowed right down, so back in the car to finish the trip.
This was my second visit to Blacks Creek. The first time I had radio issues and only managed a single contact. The issues later proved to be 100% operator error.
Pulled up at the gate which also had a style to get over the fence. As soon as I got out of the car I realised that there was a much colder wind than the day before and I might not be as prepared as I might have been. I actually thought about heading back home, but as it was a 40 minutes drive. thought I should give a try and just see how it goes.
Happily the gate wasn’t locked, so setup the portable table and tied the squid pole to a fence picket.
Managed 33 contacts before roll over and another 12 after. By this time I was really cold and it looked like a rain shower headed towards me. So rapidly packed up and called it a day.
Saw lots of different birds while there. If I’d been better prepared for the cold it would have been a good activation.
Two parks close to home. I’ve been to both many times and but not got around to activating either of them. Not for parks anyway.
VKFF-2402 – Mount Warrenheip Flora Reserve
Mt Warrenheip Operating Position
Mount Warrenheip also has a SOTA summit though while I set up on top I hadn’t walked up, so did qualify for a SOTA activation. Mount Warrenheip is the site of a number of communication towers. There’s an asphalt road that’s in pretty poor condition that goes up to the top. Once there there’s not much space to setup. I drove the farthest end of the road where there’s a small turn around area. Parked there and threw the EFHW into a tree on the ridge. Found there was S9 noise on both 40m and 20m which made all the contacts hard work. On a few occasions others told me there were stations calling, but I simply couldn’t hear them.
Second site for the day was Winter Swamp Nature Conservation Reserve. Pulled the car into the gate off Blind Creek Rd and then jumped the gate. Setup the EFHW started calling on 40m. The sun was out and there was no breeze. So it was very mild winters day. Perfect for being out in the field.
Managed 54 contacts over the space of 90 minutes, including 8 on 20m. Also had three P2P contacts.
Revisit to two parks fairly close to home to qualify both with 44 contacts.
VKFF-2397 – Mount Erip Flora Reserve
I first visited the Mout Erip Flora Reserve in March 2020. On the previous visit I was at the other end of the park. I tried to access the same spot, but the track in was wetter than I was keen to tackle, so accessed from the Southern end instead, accessing a track off Happy Valley Rd. The track was still pretty slippery, but it didn’t have any water holes, so I was able to get into the park and set up on a ridge.
It was quite misty when I set up. As the morning wore on the mist lifted and eventually a bit of sun popped out.
Managed 52 contacts including 4 park to park contacts and 7 on 20m
UTC – 12th
VK3ZPF
UTC – 13th
VK2HFI
VK2IO
VK4NH
VK3FD
VK2DWP
VK3LF
VK4DXA
VK2VAR
VK2MET
VK4HAT
VK2NWT
ZL1BQD
VK3ALO
VK1DI
VK3ALA
VK2IO
VK4HNS
VK3SQ
VK2VH
VK3ICM
VK1ACE
VK3ARH
VK4AAC
VK3VIN
VK4HAT
VK3HRA
VK2BYF
VK2LAG
ZL1TM
VK2EXA
VK2MET
VK3PF
VK4CXY
VK4KC
VK3VIN
VK1AAF
VK3PF
VK4MAD
ZL1BQD
VK2YK
VK4KC
VK4DOG
VK2LB
VK5GA
VK4MAD
VK1ACE
VK5VZ
VK3MAB
VK4DOG
VK3PF
VK2VW
VKFF-2370 – Linton Flora & Fauna Reserve
I was last at the Linton Flora and Fauna Reserve in November 2020. Set up in basically the same location as last time, off the side of Deviation track, again using the 20 EFHW.
Managed 48 contacts, again with 4 P2P and 12 on 20m. However 2 contacts were repeat contacts in the same park, so really only 46 for the activation.
Mid June revisit to two parks that I’ve activated before, with the goal of getting the 44 contacts required to qualify for the WWFF program.
VKFF-0775 – Werribee Gorge State Park
Headed off to Werribee George early to be setup and working before the rollover, but not before getting a coffee and muffin from one of the Ballan cafe’s.
Setup in the same location as when I was here in December of last year. Initially tried without setting up the gazebo, but there was soon some light rain so paused for five minutes to pop that up.
Managed nine contacts before rollover and forty overall, including five on 20m before heading off to Brisbane Ranges.
After grabbing another coffee in Ballan, made my way into the Brisbane Ranges National Park. I think this was the first park that I’d ever activated back in 2016. Pulled into the entry to Koala track which is closed to all but management vehicles and walkers and set up the 40m EFHW under the gazebo to keep the rain off. Also setup my little butan heater that did a great job of keeping the cold at bay.
Managed forty six contacts, including fourteen on 20m.
With the opportunity to have a long weekend away I headed to the North of the state hoping that the weather would be a bit milder than back in Ballarat. Given it was early June and the start of winter, I planned for it to be cold and wet. While it was cold, the rain really held off until the final park on Sunday.
I chose Kerang as the base for the weekend as there’s quite a few parks within a one hour drive. My goal was to activate at least two parks Friday and Sunday, and three on Saturday.
First target was Leaghur State Park. Easy access off the Boort – Kerang Rd. Signs at the entrance declared the tracks to be dry weather only, which was something that proved to be more of a problem over the rest of the weekend than I had anticipated. Most of the tracks in this park weren’t too bad, though there was a boggy section on the track to the picnic area that I chose not to attempt. I found an open area next to Forest Lane where I set up the 80 OCF.
I was expecting that as it was a weekday the contacts might be rather slow. My concerns were unfounded as I managed 51 contacts in the space of just over an hour, all on 40m
VKFF-2472 – Wandella Nature Conservation Reserve
Second site for Friday was the Wandella NCR. I access this site via House Lane. I started to drive down the lane into the park but the track was feeling rather slippery so turned around and parked at the edge of the park. Even though I’d only driven 50m down the track, it was enough to have had an centimeter of mud collect on each wheel. So not going further down the track was the right thing.
Set up the EFHW using a tree for the high end. Managed 39 contacts over an hour and half, including five DX contacts. I would have pushed on to 44, but the light was fading, the temperature dropping and I still needed to find my accommodation, so packed up and called it a day.
VKFF-0740 – Gunbower National Park
First target for Saturday was Gunbower National Park. I’d mapped out an access point using online maps the night before. But there the planned track was too wet to risk getting stuck on. So drove down to Cohuna and then made my way into the park, finding an open spot on the river. By the time I’d worked out how to get into the park and setup the 80 ocf I’d missed the rollover time. 😦 There was a couple of drops of rain so put up the gazebo. Happily the rain mostly held off.
Managed 46 contacts over an hour and twenty minutes, with nine on 20m and the rest on 40. One of the 20m contacts was a P2P with ZL1SGS in New Zealand.
VKFF-2183 – Rowland Nature Conservation Reserve
Next was the Rowland Nature Conservation Reserve. There was a track into the park, but the entry was quite boggy. So simply parked on the road, climbed through the fence and carried the gear 50m in to a suitable tree to hold up the 40 efhw. While setting up an owl flew out of a small tree next to me, and landed in the same tree the antenna was in. I was expecting he’d quickly fly off, but he was still there when I left an hour later.
While loading the car up a passing farmer stopped to check I was okay and query why I was there. I explained how the park program works, which got a very surprised response. After a chat he helped with directions to Mt Hope.
Managed 48 contacts over 50 minutes, all on 40m.
VKFF-2150 – Mount Hope Nature Conservation Reserve
Third site for Saturday was Mount Hope CR. There wasn’t any way of driving up the mount, so set up in the parking area off Old Leitchville Rd. The weather was deteriorating, with wind picking up and intermittent rain falls, so for the second time today put up the gazebo to keep the rain off.
Managed 54 contacts over the space of an hour and fifteen minutes, including nine on 30m.
Packed up and then walked up the mount which presented some great views. By now daylight was starting to fade, so headed back to camp.
VKFF-0970 – Kerang Regional Park
Pyramid Creek
Sunday’s first target was the Kerang Regional Park, quite close to base camp. Finding an access point that wasn’t a boggy track proved to be a bit of a problem. Eventually found a track off the Kerang – Murrabit Rd beside Pyramid Creek. The area had an opening large enough to park the car and set up the gazebo to keep the rain off. There was only a few spots of rain in the time I was there, but it was pretty cold.
Used the 40 EFHW to make 46 contacts in just under an hour, helped by getting sixteen contacts before the rollover. Also managed a SOTA contact with ZL3MR in ZL/CB-650 both before and after rollover. And a NZ Lakes contact with ZL3RIK in ZLL-0077.
VKFF-0630 – Terrick Terrick National Park
Last park for the trip was the Terrick Terrick National Park. Found a spot where I could pull off the side of the track on Squire Track. My luck with the weather had run out, with rain falling steadily pretty much the whole time I was there. Happily the gazebo did its job, keeping the gear and myself dry.
Managed 48 contacts in around an hour, all on 40m before packing up and driving back home. Overall the weekend was a success.
vk3oak 