TACKLING A WET GOOGS TRACK

WILL GOOGS TRACK BE AS CHALLENGING IN THE WET AS IT IS IN THE DRY? LET'S FIND OUT

- GLENN MARSHALL

IT WAS the 1970s and people were free to do much of what they wanted, so when a local farmer decided to cut a track from his property at Lone Oak, 120km north to Mount Finke, through wild and untamed land, that’s what he did. With the help of his son Martin (Dinger), Goog Denton jumped on his bulldozer and headed north through the bush. Also with the help of family and friends, it only took three years to complete the track that is now enjoyed by four-wheel drive adventurers 12 months a year.

Having fuelled up at Ceduna, it wasn’t long before we turned on to the access road, stopping at the information board to check for any tips on the track. There was a lot of great advice, not just on Googs Track but also for the Yumbarra and Yellabinna parks. Once the bitumen runs out and the sand track begins, it’s recommended that you drop your tyre pressures to between 15 and 25psi, depending on the amount of weight being carried. Now is also a good time to fit your sand flag and change to UHF channel 18 whilst on Googs Track.

With so much recent rain, it was a surprise to find the track in good condition; although, the corrugations were still as bad as they’ve always been. We’d driven through a couple of shallow sections of water over the track, but disaster struck when we reached the third. Being first through, the depth caught me out and then a step-up near the end was difficult to get up, but I had just enough momentum to escape the hole. Mick wasn’t so lucky, with the Amarok unable to get over the step-up, getting stuck in the muddy water. He was unable to move into reverse gear, with the auto ’box getting stuck in neutral.