Goroke is a small pastoral and agricultural centre of some 200 people located 366 km north-west of Melbourne and 67 km west of Horsham.

The town was laid out in 1882 and named after the Aboriginal term for the district which apparently meant ‘magpie’. In 1884 the population was recorded as about 50. It served as a supply centre for local selectors. By 1887 there was a flour mill, two stores, a school, a mechanics’ hall, an hotel and a blacksmith’s.

The only linkage to Nhill and Kaniva was by a desert track. By 1891 the population had increased to 91. A railway line to Natimuk was completed in 1894.

Poet John Shaw Nielson (aged and his family settled at Minimay, 30 km north-west of Goroke, in 1880. He briefly attended school there and worked as a farm labourer.

It was here that he began writing poetry, his work inspired by local landscapes. The family left for Nhill owing to drought in 1885.

Goroke is close to Mt Arapiles-Tooan State Park. A sandstone peak, Mt Arapiles is a challenge for serious, international rock climbers, while the inexperienced can enjoy the views from the summit by taking the steep but less challenging routes. The park conserves 500 species of native plants, including the rare rock wattle and skeleton fern.

Lake Charlegrark, 22km west along the road to Bordertown, is a popular aqua-playground which rewards the patient fisherman with catches of Murray cod, redfin and yabbies, although over the last few years their has been no water due to recent climates, but more recently it has been reported that the water is progressively returning .

The shores of the lake host an annual Country Music Festival in February. The date for February 2010 to be announced, watch this space.