The Poplars 2025

Where:

Poplars Camp Ground Noojee Vic.

When:

23rd to 29th October 2025.

What a fantastic event, thanks to Stanley vk3bot and the members who dedicated their time to camp or visit for the day.

The Poplars is a camp ground around 7ks from Noojee via the Loch Valley Rd.

Originally scheduled from the 22nd to the 29th of October, the event was rescheduled to the 22nd to the 23rd, Thursday, due to storms predicted by the Weather Bureau.

Craig was the first to reach the campground and noticed that the area hadn't been mowed for several months. However, this didn't affect any of us because of the designated camping spots.

Over the next few days, many of our members arrived and set up camp, while a few from our club decided to drop in for the day.

Most days, the weather was quite pleasant, featuring some cloud cover and occasional showers over a day or two. The best part was the near absence of wind, which made it very comfortable.

Many of the members also took the opportunity to explore the area and visit the Toolshed, which is an excellent venue offering amazing meals and more.

We also visited the local Cafe, The Little Red Duck for some Coffee and Cake.

In total, we have 15 people who either camp or visit during the days spent at the Poplars Camp Ground.

Everyone agreed that this was the best Famparc Camp-Out yet, and I must admit, I've never laughed so much. It was an incredible experience, with activities like playing radio and having chats around the campfire. With some wonderful people from our club.

We were fortunate that numerous amateurs were heading to Canberra for the VKFF awards, resulting in dozens of enthusiasts on the air activating parks.

This provided us with numerous opportunities to establish many contacts over the days.

Craig managed to work over 50 contacts...

Another enjoyable aspect was the guys listening to other amateurs using the ISS onboard repeater during the many passes.

We were also able to use both our Repeater Phone App and Craig's AllStar Hotspot to communicate with the club's repeater.

As well as DStar nets.

The campout faced a few challenges, as Matt VK1MHZ and his son Finn had a head-on collision on their way to the campground. Fortunately, neither of them was injured. Although his 4WD sustained significant damage, it was inspected and deemed safe to drive.

Greg, vk3qsl, began feeling a bit unwell, and after being persuaded to go home, it took him a day or two to recover from food poisoning.

Overall it was an amazing time with lots of fun, radio and antenna play etc.. Good friends and good times.

Ask Patrick about this image.

Anyway.. thanks to:

Stanley vk3bot

Craig vk3ncr

Colin vk3cr

Gerard vk3ger

Patrick vk3apl and Corryne

Bernie vk3???

Terry vk3bmx

Jerry vk3vce

Greg vk3qsl

Pamela vk3hxx

Tony vk3an

Matt vk1mhz and son Finn

Wayne vk3xf

Harry vk3gqk and Kerrylyn