Our final activation for the trip (8th March 2023) was the Goroke silo VK-GRE3. Goroke is located in the Wimmera district of Victoria, about halfway between Horsham and the South Australian State border.
Above:- Map showing the location of Goroke. Map c/o Google Maps.
Goroke is believed to be an aboriginal word meaning magpie.
The Goroke area was settled in the mid-1840s by a number of pastoral runs. By the 1870s farm allotments were taken up in the Goroke area. In 1882 the Goroke township was surveyed. In 1885 a school was opened. Within a few years, Goroke had stores, a flour mill, a hotel, and a mechanics institute.
In 1903 Goroke was described in the Australian Handbook as follows:
Today the town of Goroke is based around primary production, including wool growing, fat lamb and mutton production.
The Goroke silo is a silo mural and was painted by artist Geoffrey Carran. He was inspired by the birdlife in the West Wimmera Shire. As Goroke is an aboriginal word for magpie, the Australian Magpie features heavily on the silos. Other native birds featured on the silos include the Kookaburra and Galah. The silo was completed in late 2020 and took about seven weeks to complete. The Kookaburra and Magpie are both more than 10 metres in height.
Marija and I operated from the 4WD for this activation in the carpark adjacent to the silos.
Above:- the silo activation zone at Goroke. Image c/o SiOTA website.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK1AO
- VK2MET
- VK3SMW
- VK3PF
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK1AO
- VK2MET
- VK3SMW
- VK3PF
- VK5CZ
- VK5HS
- VK2IO
- VK3EIR
- VK5NZ
- VK2MOE
- VK2VKB
- VK3MDC
- VK3DX
- VK2YK
- VK5GA
- VK7FGGT
- VK3SKT
It was late and we were getting hungry, so we decided to have a meal at the Goroke Hotel. We were not disappointed….the meal was very nice.
We then continued home, about a 3 hour & 50-minute drive.
References.
- Silo Art Trail, 2023, <http://siloarttrail.com/works/goroke/>, viewed 5th May 2023.
- Victorian Places, 2023, <https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/goroke>, viewed 5th May 2023.
- Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goroke,_Victoria>, viewed 5th May 2023.
VK5PAS 