Tramper stranded by fog rescued
A tramper caught in a heavy fog has spent a cold and wet night in the outer Marlborough Sounds after he wandered from the track.
The 62-year-old Canterbury man was heading for Mt Stanley on the Nydia Track, about 20 kilometres north of Havelock, on Saturday afternoon when low cloud enveloped the ridge.
He called police about 4pm on Saturday, fearing he would not make it back to the track when he could not see where he was going.
Senior constable Al Hendrickson, of Blenheim, said the man was not an experienced tramper and did not take warm clothes or a compass.
Hendrickson, communicating with the man via cellphone, told him to activate his personal locator beacon so search teams could find him.
Volunteer Land Search and Rescue teams and police entered the 27km track about 7pm on Saturday. They reached the man about six hours later.
He had a map and a survival blanket and an old analogue phone, which did not have GPS capability, Hendrickson said.
‘‘He wasn’t lost. He had left the track, and gone to do some exploring on his own. He knew roughly where he was, but he couldn’t see where he was going up in the cloud, with no visual references.’’
The search team cooked him a hot meal on a gas cooker and gave him a hot drink to help get his strength back, Hendrickson said.
The man, who was holidaying in the Marlborough Sounds, had learnt a hard lesson about being prepared, Hendrickson said.
The LandSAR volunteers did a great job in cold and wet conditions, he said.
‘‘They put in a great effort through the night and recovered our missing party in an untracked environment, which was a credit to those that went searching for him.
‘‘Speaking with the searchers on their return, I know they are all going home for a hot shower and some well-earned sleep.’’