A tramper’s day walk on Northland’s Mt Tutamoe turned into a late night ordeal after he became lost in dense bush.
The event has prompted police to issue a reminder about proper preparation for activities in challenging environments.
Northland police search and rescue lead Detective Sergeant Paul Overton said the tramper had almost reached the summit of the mountain when he abandoned the track due to tough terrain.
Overton said the tramper had ended up lost after he unintentionally wandered off the track.
Although he had patchy reception on his cell phone, he was able to get through to the police emergency call centre.
Police search and rescue teams were then deployed to the scene.
“Three field teams went in to attempt to locate the lost tramper, with only sporadic details as to his location,” said Overton.
A 4×4 track, which was normally locked, was used by the teams to get further up the mountain.
At around 9pm, they had located the man after making voice contact.
“Once he was secured the teams started an extremely slow walk out – due to the rugged terrain this took almost three hours.”
The lost tramper and the search and rescue team arrived back at the car park at about midnight.
Overton said the tramper was uninjured but exhausted after the ordeal.
“Police drove him home to make sure he got there safely.”
Despite the successful outcome, police have warned about the importance of thorough preparation when undertaking activities in isolated or challenging environments, whether they are on land or at sea.
“With summer approaching and longer days people want to get out and about and enjoy Northland’s great outdoors,” Overton said.
“People need to make sure they have adequate clothing, navigation tools, and know what the weather forecast is.”
He advised people should also “ideally not go alone, or tell someone else where they are going, have two forms of communication and carry a GPS”.
