Beyond The Homestead

There is nothing better than deflating the tyres, hitting the dirt and feeling like you are the only person on this planet – googs track offers just that.

- Scott Mason

It is remarkable what a solid drop of rain does for semi-arid wilderness. The dry landscape I had seen here previously, with a meagre dappling of greenery, was transformed into a relatively lush well-vegetated scene, complete with fields of springtime wildflowers. It was a stunning sight and a beautiful greeting as we aired down to 16psi and made toward our first stop and camp destination, Mt Finke.

After topping up the tanks at the last available fuel stop we left Kingoonya, in South Australia’s central outback, and made for the Googs Track head roughly 75km away.

If you are like me, nothing puts a smile on the face more than driving a narrow, winding single track; gone is the blacktop and humdrum of well-maintained gravel and simply ‘making miles’. This is what it’s all about, and immediately we were enjoying the driving. The northern section is fairly open, flat terrain, but as you travel south this is broken up by the start of the dunes which continue well into the south.

Several years ago, I had travelled Googs Track from south to north, this time though I would be crossing in the opposite direction. I had heard rumours the track was one-way only; rest-assured this is not true, you can approach from either direction without issue.