John Goog & Martin DingerPrint Page

The plaques commemorate the pushing of the road by John Goog and Martin Dinger. They are placed near the old shack site of the Denton Family. The plaques were laid in 1994 and 1997. 

In 2018, the site was upgraded and a plaque was laid in honour of Coral ‘Nana Nong’ Beattie, Mrs Denton’s mother, to commemorate her compassion and dedication while pushing Googs Track. Surviving members of the track pushing crew, Mrs Denton, Denis Beattie, Debbie Burge and Jeffery Denton were honoured and foundation sites created for the ultimate family memorial. A sign marking the occasion was erected honouring the family and formalising the memorials for future track users to be able to understand some of the history of the track and its dedicated pushers.

Goog's Track, its original name was Goog's Road, goes back to the mid 1970's when it was built by John (nicknamed Goog) and Jenny Denton. The Dentons lived at the Lone Oak Station at the start of Goog's Track on the southern end.  They purchased the leasehold of the undeveloped tract of farm land in the mid 1960's and started the mammoth task of clearing the land for farming as well as building their home, Lone Oak Homestead, on the southern fringes of the Yumbarra Conservation Park, through which the first section of the track passes. Jenny Denton had three children in her early years on the station, Martin (Dinger), Debbie and Jeffery.

Goog's aim was to open up a road from Ceduna to meet the east, west railway line junction at Tarcoola, so that there would be better access to being able to sell local produce to wider markets with the aid of the railway. He received no government support or financial assistance and took some three years, working at weekends only, to complete the task using, to start with anyway, some very basic equipment such as an old tractor with a blade attached to the front to act as a bulldozer. He did, however, receive a lot of moral and financial support in the form of fuel and equipment from property owners in the area who could see the potential benefit of such a road. Once the original Goog's Track was completed both Goog and Dinger did a fair amount of track work in the area for mining exploration companies. Both lost their lives in accidents in the vicinity of the track, and at different times, after the track was completed.

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