vk5pas

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Mutton Cove Conservation Reserve VKFF-2246

Posted: 11 Feb 2018 05:11 PM PST
https://vk5pas.org/2018/02/12/mutton...ark-vkff-2246/


For a variety of reasons, this year, 2018, has been a very quiet year for
me as a Park and SOTA activator.Â* So yesterday (Sunday 11th February 2018),
my wife Marija VK5FMAZ and I decided to head out to enjoy the sunshine.Â* We
drove down to Port Adelaide to activate the Mutton Cove Conservation
Reserve VKFF -2246.Â* This was to be the first time that the park had been
put on the air for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

The Mutton Cove Conservation Reserve is located on the LeFevre Peninsula,
north of the city of Adelaide, and is adjacent to the Port River.Â* The
reserve is part of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Mutton Cove Conservation Reserve.Â*
Map courtesy of google maps.

Mutton Cove is about 48 hectares in size and is the lastÂ*remaining
biodiverse area of salt marsh and Grey Mangrove woodlandÂ*on the LeFevre
Peninsula, about 15 km northwest of the Adelaide city centre.Â* The
peninsula is a narrow sand spit of around 30 square km running north from
its connection to the mainland.Â* The peninsula is bounded to the west
byÂ*Gulf St VincentÂ*and to the north and the east by theÂ*Port River.
Above:- Aerial shot of the LeFevre Peninsula showing the Mutton Cove
Conservation Reserve.Â* Image courtesy of google maps

The earliest recorded European to see the Port River was Captain Collet
Barker.Â* In 1831 Barker was on his quest to find the Murray Mouth, at the
request of Governor Darling of New South Wales.Â* On the 19th April 1831,
Barker spotted the Port River from the top of Mount Lofty (not far from my
home).Â* The LeFevre Peninsula was named by Governor John Hindmarsh on the
3rd June 1837, after Sir John George Shaw-Lefevre, who was one of South
Australias Colonisation Commissioners.Â* Mutton Cove was named after Mutton
Cove in Devonport in the United Kingdom.
Above:- Sir John George Shaw-Lefevre.Â* Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The salt marsh in the park is comprised of Beaded Samphire, Austral
Seablite, Â*Shrubby GlasswortÂ*and Grey SamphireÂ*low shrubland.Â* There are
three branches of the Mutton Cove creek located in the park.

The Le Fevre Peninsula was considerably smaller when Europeans first
settled the area.Â* The land has been raised by large amounts of fill and
dumping.Â* Most of this fill was placed between the early 1940’s and 1992,
when dumping ceased. The area of Mutton Cove is one of the few areas along
the edges of the Peninsula that remains at natural surface level.








Mutton Cove is identified with the Commonwealth governments Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999), as an important
migratory bird habit.Â*Â*A total of 89 bird species have been recorded in the
park includingÂ*White-faced Heron, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Silver Gull,
Spur-winged Plover, White-fronted Chat, Singing Honeyeater, Welcome
Swallow, Musk Duck, Pacific Reef Heron, Australian Pelican, Rock Parrot,
Grey Shrikethrush, and Brown Songlark.

The Mutton Cove Conservation Reserve contains a ships graveyard.Â* It is on
of five abandonment sites within the Port Adelaide area, including Garden
Island, Jervois Basin, Angas Inlet, and Broad Creek.

In around 1945 an embankment was constructed across the entrance to Mutton
Cove.Â* However prior to this two ships were abandoned within Mutton Creek,
the Excelsior and the Jupiter.Â* The Excelsiors remains can be found in the
north western corner of the park, whilst the Jupiter is mostly covered in
mud.Â* To give an indication of how deep the original Mutton Cove Creek was
may be gained from the fact that Excelsior was floated right up the Cove to
its current position.








The steel hulledÂ*Excelsior was built in 1897 by Gourlay Brothers of Dundee,
Scotland, and measuredÂ* 39.9 m in length and 7.3 m in breadth, 3.3 m depth
and was 310 gross tons. The Excelsior was originally registered in Sydney
in 1897 and worked on the north coast of New South Wales.Â* In the 1930s it
was converted to a coal hulk, lightering coal to the steam powered dredges
working in Port Adelaide.
Above:- The Excelsior.Â* Image courtesy of Ship Spotting

Prior to heading to the park Marija and I decided to take a quick walk
around Port Adelaide.Â* There is a lot to see down here.Â* Our first stop was
the clipper ship, the City of Adelaide.Â* This is the worlds oldest
surviving clipper ship, having been built in 1864 to carry passengers to
Adelaide.Â* About 250,000 Australians can trace their ancestry to the ship.
The City of Adelaide.

The Port Adelaide area has some of the finest colonial buildings in
Australia.Â* Many date back to the mid and late 1880s when the Port was at
its peak.







The wharf precinct at Port Adelaide was very busy, as it was such a lovely
sunny day, with a temperature of about 26 deg C.Â* We viewed the Dolphin
Explorer returning to the Port after a 2 hour trip down the Port River to
view the dolphins.Â* The One and All sailing ship was open for inspection.Â*
This tall ship was launched in 1985 and took part in the First Fleet
Re-enactment Voyage as part of Australias bicentenary celebrations.









And despite the Port being very busy and Adelaide having a population of
nearly 1.2 million people, it is amazing who you bump in to.Â* As we were
walking along the wharf area we found my Dad and stepmum enjoying some
pancakes and a coffee at one of the many cafes overlooking the Port River.Â*
What a bonus for the day out.



After enjoying a milkshake with Dad & Dorthy, Marija and I travelled north
along Victoria Road and then turned right into Veitch Road and then left
onto Mersey Road North.Â* Unfortunately we soon encountered a number of
bollards and fences and found that the road was blocked off.Â* I suspect due
to security for the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC).Â* The ASC is
notable for the construction andÂ*maintenance of theÂ*Collins-class
submarineÂ*fleet operated by theÂ*Royal Australian NavyÂ*(RAN) and the
construction of Hobart-class destroyers.





So we headed back out onto Victoria Road and then took Pelican Point Road
which continues in to Mersey Road North.Â* There is a carpark for the park
on Mersey Road North, but we had noted the huge powerlines and decided this
was not going to be a great place to operate from.Â* So we followed a dirt
track which runs down the northern side of the reserve.Â* This takes you
down to a small car parking area right alongside of the Port River.





We set up at this location, as there are not too many other options.Â* Sadly
there was rubbish everywhere and we had to put up with the continual sound
of burnouts by the hoons who use the nearby roads as a racetrack.Â* There
was also no shade and it was quite blustery, with the squid pole flexing in
the wind.
Above:- An aerial shot of the Mutton Cove Conservation Reserve showing our
operating spot.Â* Image courtesy of google maps

After setting up, we tentatively turned on the transceiver and our worst
fears were realised, with a strength 8 noise floor.Â* The park is surrounded
by industry, including the Australian Submarine Corporation, so it was no
surprise.

Marija and I were keen to qualify the park for the VKFF program, which
required 10 contacts in the log, and for us to then get out of there.Â* So
we decided to run just the 10 watts PEP, due to Marijas Foundation licence,
and share the mic.Â* I called CQ for around 2 minutes with no takers, whilst
Marija spotted me on parksnpeaks.Â* Our first caller was Les VK5KLV at Port
Augusta, north of Adelaide, who fortunately had a strong 5/8 signal, above
the noise.Â* Geoff VK3SQ from Beechworth was next.Â* But Geoffs signal was
right on the threshold, but we made it.
Above:- Marija on air in the park.

Band conditions were terrible for us due to the noise floor and we could
hear quite a few stations calling, but just couldnt pull them through.Â* Our
sincere apologies if you were one of those stations calling.Â* We persevered
and within 15 minutes had 10 contacts in the log.Â* Contact number 10 was
Ian VK5KKT at Two Wells north of Adelaide, who was 5/9 plus.Â* Once Marija
had her 10 contacts in the log, she sat back and enjoyed watching some of
the fishing boast, yachts and the Dolphin Explorer sailing passed us on the
Port River.





I logged a further 6 stations on 40m, making my tally of contacts on 40m,
16 QSOs into New South Wales (VK2), Victoria (VK3), South Australia (VK5),
and Tasmania (VK7).Â* We then lowered the squid pole and removed the links
in the antenna, and I tried my luck on the 20m band.Â* I headed to 14.310
and found Jonathan VK7JON who was in contact with another station.Â*
Jonathan was just below the noise and I was only just able to make him out,
so I decided not to call.Â* I am sure that Jonathan would have hear me, but
the noise on 20m for me was strength 6, making it very difficult.



Dennis VK2HHA in Albury was my first contact on 20m with a strong 5/8
signal, followed by VK3GSG and then Gerard VK2JNG/p who was activating
theÂ*Dooragan National Park VKFF-0143.Â* It was nice to get a Park to Park
contact in the log.Â* I logged a further 5 stations on 20m, before the
noise, the heat, and the wind, became just too much.Â* Marija and I packed
up and headed back to the Adelaide Hills, with the intention of activating
Mount Lofty, where we knew the noise floor would be very low.





So after 45 minutes on air, we had both qualified the park for the VKFF
program.Â* I had 24 contacts in the log, which meant I required a further 20
to qualify the park for the global WWFF program.Â* Im not sure that I will
rush back here to get my 20 QSOs, as this is a very noisy park with no real
options of finding an RF noise free location.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK5KLV
VK3SQ
VK3PMG
VK3GGG
VK3ANL
VK2IO
VK3CWF
VK2UH
VK7ME
VK5KKT


I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK5KLV
VK3SQ
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK3ANL
VK2IO
VK3CWF
VK2UH
VK7ME
VK5KKT
VK3HKV/m
VK5FDRW/p
VK5TT
VK5FMWW
VK2PKT
VK3TKK/m


I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

VK2HHA
VK3GSG
VK2JNG/p (Dooragan National Park VKFF-0143)
VK4TJ
VK4/AC8WN
VK4/VE6XT
VK3SQ
VK4AAC/2




References.

Birds SA, 2018,
https://birdssa.asn.au/location/mutton-cove-conservation-reserve/, viewed
11th February 2018

City of Adelaide, 2018, https://www.cityofadelaide.org.au/, viewed 12th
February 2018

Friends of Mutton Cove, 2018,
http://friendsofmuttoncove.noticeboard.net.au/, viewed 12th February 2018

Ship Spotting, 2018,
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2315386, viewed 12th
February 2018

Wikipedia, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefevre_Peninsula, viewed
12th February 2018