First Down Under contact

Still relatively new to the HF CW scene I have a bit over 1400 contacts and I've found that more than half my calls now are with stations I've previously worked.  Don't get me wrong, that's not a problem, and I enjoy the camaraderie of frequent chats.  But even so, I want to expand my reach and begin working some DX stations on a more regular basis.

My 80m OCF Dipole (Windom) is resonant (below 2:1 SWR) on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 12m, 10m and 6m.  So I've been spending time on 17 and 10 meters, trying to work beyond my normal circle of CW contacts.  Yes the solar cycle is definitely on the wane but I am pulling in a few contacts on 17m and each one is a new call for me. 

This afternoon, after about 10 minutes of fruitless calling on 18.080 I spun the VFO and behold, I heard a VK station (VK2DX) calling on 18.074.  I had to send my call a few times but he copied me and we exchanged reports and names.  

A QSO with Australia, I was psyched!  

Now for you old timers with thousands of contacts in the log and dozens of VK's in the log you're thinking no big deal, but if you're new to this and started on the downside of the solar cycle you may be thinking, like me, that 10,000 mile DX is rarer than hens teeth.  

So, if you're still new to HF and you think you'll need to wait until the solar cycle 25 for a CW contact with the other side of the world, because your using a low power radio and a wire antenna; just keep plugging along and you'll probably find the RF pixies are smiling at you.

So give those higher frequencies a shot even when they sound dead and RBN shows nary a spot.

EDIT:
Just checked my RBN spot page (spots for AA4OO) and I did indeed get picked up by a RBN station in Australia but on 20m rather than 17m.  So maybe it's not so surprising that I was able to work him today.  I need to pay more attention to my RBN spots.

73/72

Richard, AA4OO