Now, I love driving and having spent time in the top end and regional areas I'm not new to being off-road. We've also got a 50mm lift and full under car protection.
So, as we neared Mt Elizabeth station we looked into visiting Bachsten camp via the Munja Track. We were advised not to take the camper trailer and instead booked in to stay in one of the camps cabins. 'It's 7-8 hrs' we were told.
So we set off, allowing 8 - 9 hrs of daylight. After stopping to view some rock art, and to find and recover the Go-pro after it's mount snapped and it fell off, we soon realised that we were way behind schedule.
And then we met the first of three jump ups.
Returning up the Magpie jump up on the Munja Track
For the uninitiated, essentially a jump up is a steep, rocky incline/ascent into or out of a gully area. The three on the Munja track were about 3-5 kms from entry to exit. Now I can honestly say that had I known just how rough they were I probably would not have ventured forth. Certainly as we're approached the Magpie jump up the words 'Steph, I'm not sure this was such a good idea!' passed my lips. And of course it was foremost in our minds that we also had to return!
So with sweat on our brows and fear in our hearts we lurched forward metre by metre, often with one person directing via radio from in front of the car. Amazingly we got there and back relatively unscathed.
The trip over ended up taking us 10 hrs to cover the 140km and Steph bravely 'soldiered' on in the dark with me hanging a torch out the side window to be able to see around sharp corners. Coming back we managed 8.5 hrs! (The owner takes 6 hrs btw).
Was it worth it you ask? Absolutely!