Two trampers reported missing overnight in the Hunua Ranges south of Auckland have been found safe and well this afternoon.
The pair, from the Auckland region, got lost after getting separated from their group while walking the Workman Track yesterday.
Temperatures dipped to near-freezing levels last night and police say the pair had not been expecting to stay the night in the open.
However, police have just confirmed the pair, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 30s, were found by a ranger about 2pm.
The pair were safe and well but tired.
They are currently being walked out of the track and taken to their vehicles by a SAR team and do not need the assistance of a rescue helicopter, police said. They will then make their own way home.
Police thanked all the search volunteers and others involved for their efforts in locating the pair.
Temperatures in the Auckland region dipped overnight, with frost settling in many areas. The temperature reached 2C in Pukekohe overnight.
Teams searched for the pair until shortly after 2am, calling the search off for the rest of the night before redeploying this morning at 8am, police said earlier today.
The pair were reported missing by a person in their tramping group who realised they weren't behind them.
Police confirmed that although the trampers were prepared for a day tramp, they had not been expecting to stay the night out in the open.
It remains unclear where the group were from and if they were part of an official tramping club expedition.
Mark Leys, secretary of the Pukekohe Tramping Club, said the Workman Track begins off Workman Rd, at Kaiaua, just north of Mangatawhiri, on State Highway 2.
He said the last big search carried out in that part of the forest was about three years ago and took searchers about six days to find the person, thankfully, alive.
Tracks in the Hunua Ranges were all "usually pretty good", he said.
"But it's when you come off the track that you have [trouble]. If you've got reasonable tramping experience you will probably be okay, but if you're like a lot of people and they think, 'Well this is a well-marked track' and it's clearly defined and off they go with no map, no compass, no GPS, nothing, maybe a cellphone if you're really lucky."
However, cellphone coverage in the area was "not very flash".
Leys reminded anyone who was going tramping to not only take a cellphone, but also a map and a compass.