It’s today!
Club members are reminded that this evening we will host a net with our sister club in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. The net starts at 8 pm our time on the 2 meter repeater. Net Controller extraordinaire Paul (VA7VX) will start the IRLP just before 8 pm. All MRARC club members are encouraged to participate.
Some interesting data on Ipswich….
Ipswich is a city at the eastern end of Australia and is 11,889 km from Maple Ridge. It has a population of 320,000 and is located about 40 kilometers away from the state capital of Brisbane which has a population of 2.5 million. Ipswich is located on the Bremer River which was used for light shipping.
Some strikingly similar characteristics:
- Ipswich is a suburb of a larger capital city (Brisbane), just as Maple Ridge is a suburb of Vancouver.
- Brisbane has a population of 2.2 million and Metro Vancouver is 2.4 million.
- Ispwich is located 44 kilometers outside the city, just as Maple Ridge is 44 km from Vancouver.
- Ipswich is inland of the ocean, similar to Maple Ridge.
- Just as our Fraser River sees a lot of shipping, Ipswich is located on the Bremer River, and was an important port for small cargoes of coal and wool.
- The region is agriculturally rich and and had several sawmills.
- The Bremer River once hosted paddlewheel steamers.
- With 53 club members, their club is similar in size to ours.
- Both clubs are nearly identical in age (Ipswich founded in 1962, MRARC founded in 1964).
Ipswitch is home to the Royal Australian Air Force’s largest operational base (RAAF Base Amberley). and is home to two squadrons of F/A-18F Super Hornets, a squadron of Airbus KC-30A and a squadron of Globemaster III jet transports.
Similar to our area, the film industry enjoys shooting in Ipswich. I’ve you’ve seen the disaster film San Andreas with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, you’ve already had a tour of the city. Inspector Gadget 2 was also filmed there.
The town began in 1827 as a limestone mining settlement, originally named “The Limestone Hills” and later just “Limestone”. In 1843, it was renamed after the town of Ipswich in England. The city became a major coal-mining area around 1848.
As you know, seasons are inverted for northern and southern hemispheres, so our summer in July is their winter. Their record low temperature was recorded in July which as -10.6 celsius. Average low temperatures in July (their winter) are 5.4 and average highs of 21.2. Locally our January average low is -1.2 and average high is 5.4 celsius. Curious that 5.4 is their average winter low and our average winter high. This would indicate that their climate is far warmer than ours and summers are much more humid.
Some other interesting facts:
- Ipswich has a major public hospital, and also two private hospitals.
- A campus of the University of Southern Queensland is located in Ipswich.
- Ipswich has 500 parks and conservation estates.
- Ipswich has an electrified rail line somewhat similar to Metro Vancouver’s skytrain.
- Ipswich has a golf course designed by Greg Norman, rated #1 in Queensland.
- While not as popular as football (soccer) and Rugby, Hockey is still a major sport in the city.