One last day of being home alone with nothing to do. I could have spent the day relaxing, maybe making progress on projects or doing housework. But there’s always that other project; the “let’s do all the POTA parks within 20 miles of home” project that I foolishly set myself.

And so, a-roving we shall go.

For a while now there have been six yellow markers along the coast to the east of Christchurch. Two more were added recently in Lymington to the east, and on Tuesday we crossed off two the parks at the western end, bringing the total number of unactivated parks back to six. None of the six have any particularly exciting history as far as I know, and to my recollection I have never visited any of them, so you’ll mercifully be spared my childhood anecdotes this time.

No, there’s nothing to see here but me, a car, a portable radio station, and a six-park blitz on a cold and windy Thursday afternoon.

Here we go.

1145-1215Z: GB-3353 Nea Meadows

Stop one was Nea Meadows, a small park just up the road from Tuesday’s spots. From the car park I walked up the western side of the lake, mercifully not soaking my shoes and socks as I dodged the puddles, then turned right into the open grassy area of the park. The lake was full to bursting and very brown, while the muddy grass wasn’t much better. There were a few highlights here, such as my first transatlantic contact of the day with Frank N2IGW, and with Kristjan TF4WD in Iceland, a rare DXCC for me. But the activation peaked at my first call, a park-to-park with Gavin G5UHF, who was activating none other than GB-1726 Highcliffe to Milford Cliffs SSSI—at most a couple of miles from me, and the very same park we had activated two days before.

My equipment here, and throughout the day, was my usual quick-activation roving kit: Yaesu FT-891, JPC-12 vertical antenna, and 20Ah battery. All contacts were SSB on the 20m band.

The off-the-radio highlight was spotting a heron in the lake, the first time I’ve had a Heron on the Air in almost a year.

1230-1310Z: GB-5062 Barton Common

I decided that only one park before lunch was a poor show, so I’d push on and get Barton Common in the log before stopping. This is an area of heather and gorse, grazed by horses, similar to many others on activations past. Today it was a struggle to find somewhere both above water, and where I wouldn’t be too easily bothered by the horses; eventually I settled on an area of recently cleared bracken whose roots still held the soil together and provided some drainage.

I had a second transatlantic contact here with Tom VA1SEA, a park-to-park with Eugenio IU2QBL, plus I exchanged a 57 report both ways with Thomas SM3NRY… despite my antenna having fallen over. I only noticed after completing the contact that the frequency seemed quiet, and my radio was limiting transmit power to about 20 Watts. Despite the JPC-12 being fully on its side with the radiating element lying in a puddle, it was good enough. ✨rf finds a way✨

In what would become a recurring pattern for the day, I must have tried “QRT” four or five times before people finally stopped coming back to me with their callsigns. When I try the 25-park rove I can see this becoming a real problem, and I will have to get much better at just ignoring people and turning the radio off!

1415-1435Z: GB-4089 Milford on Sea LNR

After a stop for food and more importantly caffeine, my adventure continued eastwards to Milford on Sea, one of the south coast’s most popular milf-related destinations. And I did see some great tits (parus major) here!

The nature reserve doesn’t have a car park of its own, so I parked on the nearby clifftop car park which afforded some nice, though overcast, views of the western Isle of Wight through to Christchurch and the Purbecks.

From there it was a short walk up the road to the qualifying area, which consists of some heathland plus a large grazed field. The field had a bench in its top left corner which provided the perfect spot to sit and make a quick 11 QSOs, including one transatlantic with William W1OW.

I didn’t venture onto the heath itself today, as time was ticking on—perhaps next time.

1450-1520Z: GB-4088 Sturt Pond

Just down the coast, where the cliffs meet the stony beach of Hurst spit, lies Sturt Pond. The main portion of the nature reserve was closed off behind a locked gate, but next to the restaurant car park there is a small triangle of qualifying land and a bench—not the perfect POTA spot, but it would do.

Again, calling “QRT” and really meaning it became the biggest challenge here. 35 QSOs in 20 minutes later, I finally managed to catch a break, and packed up my equipment. No transatlantic contacts this time, but I did receive a park-to-park call from Andy DC7WC. I’d set myself a target of 1630 for starting my journey home, and with only an hour to go, it was looking like it might be tricky to manage both remaining parks in time.

1550-1610Z: GB-5977 Woodside Gardens

Woodside Gardens is a small town park on the south side of Lymington, and (as was becoming a pattern today) I simply didn’t have enough time to explore even its quite limited extent. I set up on an old rotten tree stump, with my antenna close by, and started calling CQ. It was a slow start, taking 3-4 minutes to get my first contact, and I was starting to worry that this would be my last park of the day, and I would leave one remaining for a future trip. But after one call was answered, so were the next few, and in the end it only took 10 minutes to get 12 in the log here.

25 minutes remained until my cut-off time to start the drive home. Could I make it to my sixth park? I was determined to try!

1625-1640Z: GB-5976 Buckland Rings

It was a 10-minute drive to the Iron Age hill fort of Buckland Rings, plus extra to find a spot in the nearby housing estate to park up, then walk back. By the time I arrived and had set up my gear, it was 1625, and only five minutes remained on the clock. Well, I’d come this far, so I decided I could afford to push my finish time out a bit. I set up as close as I could to the entrance, well within the park but definitely not far from the noise of the busy main road nearby.

Of all the parks I visited today, this one would definitely benefit from a future re-visit—I never had chance to explore the hill fort properly, or climb to the top.

From my low-lying position it was again a slow start, but once the calls started they kept coming. I smashed through the required 10, including a park-to-park with Manuel EA2DT/P, and again despite several attempts to call “QRT”, I had 18 in the log before the calls stopped coming.

Then it was a swift pack up and walk back to the car, followed by a long drive home dodging the many flooded roads.

Thanks to my contacts during today’s activations, and especially to the hunters who kept coming back throughout the day. On the list of POTA parks within 20 miles of home, I have now activated 102, with 15 remaining. See you on the air again next time!