German tourists take on croc country
Two German tourists escaped a fatal encounter after being “misdirected” by Google Maps into a crocodile-infested area of remote Australia. Wildlife rangers in Queensland state said the two are lucky to be alive after their vehicle became mired in mud in the Cape York Peninsula amid deadly spiders, snakes and crocs. Philipp Maier and Marcel Schoene had left the tropical city of Cairns and were heading north to an area bigger than the state of Nevada, with barely 3,000 inhabitants, when they got stuck. The two men followed the mapping technology to Oyala Thumotang National Park and were directed to an old dirt track where their four-wheel-drive vehicle soon became bogged down. They abandoned their car and were forced to spend a rainy night in their tent before walking the next day to the tiny settlement of Archer River where they built a wooden shelter. “It wasn't very good,” Schoene said. “It wasn't very safe.” He added the men had already come across snakes and crocodiles, as well as feral pigs and cattle. A week later, they stumbled into the town of Coen where they alerted authorities. The men told the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) they trusted the technology to get them to their destination. Senior ranger Roger James said: “QPWS rangers made contact with the tourists and found out it was another incident of Google Maps sending people in the wrong direction. “These men ended up on foot in oppressive conditions and although they had supplies and a shelter for sleeping, they are extremely lucky to be alive.”