Our 30-minute stroll became a 13-hour nightmare
On a bushwalk, Janaya couldn’t remember if her dad told her to go left or right...
It’s beautiful here, Dad,’ I said. ‘It sure is,’ he grinned.
It was October this year, and we were camping by Dilly’s Dam in Jarrahwood State Forest, WA, with miles of bush all around us.
Along with my dad Glen, 42, me and my boys – Liam, five, and Noah, three – had come away for the weekend.
As we set up camp, the boys were so excited.
The next morning, they had a great time splashing about in the water.
Then around noon, Dad went for a nap so I decided to take the boys for a stroll.
I loved bushwalking and, being a photographer, I hoped to take some good pictures along the way.
‘We’re off for a walk around the dam,’ I called out to Dad as we left. ‘See you in half an hour or so.’
‘Okay. Just make sure you take a left when you go into the bush,’ he replied.
So off we went.
The boys were wearing T-shirts, Noah’s swimming shorts were wet and we all had thongs on our feet.
None of us were wearing hats, but we were only going to be 30 minutes, I reasoned. I took a litre of apple juice
and a bag with my cameras and lenses. At 15 kilos, it was quite hefty.
I didn’t take my phone either as it had been playing up. Besides, there wouldn’t be much reception in the bush.
We hadn’t been walking long when I came to a fork in the path.
Did Dad say take a left or right? I pondered.
I went to the right. Then I took pictures of some flowers, but when I looked up, I could no longer see the dam.
I must’ve taken a wrong turn! I thought.
‘Boys, let’s head back,’ I called.
But I wasn’t sure which direction I was meant to go.
‘Are we lost, Mummy?’ asked Liam.
‘No, of course not,’ I lied, as we walked on. ‘Let’s play a game. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with B.’
Of course, it was bush – that was all we could see!
When I spotted our earlier tracks I realised we’d been going around in a circle.
It was a hot day and the boys had drunk nearly all the juice.
Finally, I could see a way out.
‘This is it, boys, we’re nearly there!’ I exclaimed happily.
But we weren’t.
With a shock, I realised I was imagining things!
Around 4pm, I began to panic.
By now, we’d been walking for four hours!
I knew Dad would be worried sick.
‘We may not be going home tonight,’ I confessed to the boys. ‘But we’ll get through this.’
Noah’s bare legs were getting scratched to pieces and sticks kept getting caught in everyone’s thongs.
We were all getting bitten
‘We may not be going home
tonight,’ I confessed to
the boys
by mozzies too.
Around 6pm, the sun started going down.
When it turned dark, I felt a panic attack coming on.
Inhaling long, deep breaths, I fought it, trying to stay strong for my boys.
‘It looks like we’re a bit lost here, but we need to keep going,’ I told the kids.
‘I’m tired, Mummy,’ Noah said.
‘I know, sweetie,’ I soothed, hauling him up on my hip and carrying him.
My shoulders ached from the heavy camera bag, but I couldn’t ditch it as it contained $3000 worth of equipment.
Finally, after around six hours, we reached a main road.
I couldn’t believe my luck! ‘We’re going to be all right now, boys,’ I cried. ‘A car will come by soon and rescue us!’
Exhausted, they sank down gratefully onto the gravel and I began screaming in the hope I’d be heard.
‘Help!’ I yelled. ‘Please, someone help us!’
For two hours, I cried out until I was hoarse.
Nobody heard me. No cars came.
We were all hungry, sunburnt, thirsty and tired.
The temperature had dropped to eight degrees. Shivering with cold, we huddled together on a pile of leaves to keep warm.
I was sure we were there for the night – but then, around 1am, I saw headlights! I ran madly towards them. ‘Help!’ I screamed, waving down the driver.
When the car stopped, I burst into tears of relief.
It was the police!
‘Where have you been?’ an officer said. ‘We’ve been looking for you for hours.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I wept. ‘We got lost. Thank you for finding us.’
Bundling the kids inside the nice warm car, I’d never felt so relieved.
On the drive back to camp, the officers told me that people on motorbikes and on foot, plus a chopper, had been searching for us.
‘We covered a 5km radius from where you left,’ he said.
We were 7km away – although we’d walked around 30km, mainly in circles – and in thongs!
We’d been missing for 13 hours.
Back at camp, Dad was waiting, worried sick.
‘Thank God you’re all safe,’ he cried, clutching us to him. ‘I spent ages looking for you but then
I had to call the police.’
‘I’m so glad you did,’ I said, hugging him tight.
We were taken to hospital, suffering from dehydration.
Luckily, we all recovered and I was able to take the boys home to their warm beds.
I’m so grateful to the police for rescuing us. Now they’re urging people to carry personal location beacons when out walking.
Our experience hasn’t put me off bushwalking – but next time I’ll definitely be more careful.
‘Help!’ I yelled. ‘Please someone help’