Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Hunters missing in Te Urewera National Park found

Rotorua Daily Post
16 Apr, 2013 01:49 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A father and son missing in the Te Urewera National Park have been found after leaving large arrows and an SOS sign made out of rocks in a riverbed.

Rotorua police were advised late on Sunday afternnon of two hunters overdue in the northern Te Urewera National Park.

The pair, a father and son from the South Waikato had been dropped by helicopter into the Matawhero Stream [about 15km east of Galatea] on Thursday, and were to be picked up at 2pm on Sunday.

When the helicopter arrived to pick them up they were not at their camp.

During the afternoon the helicopter operator returned several times to the area, but by dark they were still missing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rotorua Police Search & Rescue arranged several search teams of Police and LandSAR volunteers to begin a search yesterday morning.

Efforts to get back into the area were hampered by fog, rain, and low cloud, but the weather improved by late morning and a helicopter was able to drop the first of the search teams at the lost parties camp, and conduct an aerial search.

Around midday the lost hunters were located in the Te Inepa Stream.  This was about 5km from their camp and in a different watershed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They had got lost on the second day of their trip and so had been lost for  three days.  The had no food or shelter, but had made a fire to keep warm.

Both were hungry and weak, and very happy to see their rescuers, police said.

In addition to lighting a fire, which assisted those searching for them, the pair had also left large arrows and an SOS sign made out of rocks in the riverbed.

They had a very well equipped campsite, and lots of good gear and food, but unfortunately had very little with them when they got lost.

Police were very happy to locate the pair when they did given the severe weather warnings in place for later in the week.

Given their weak state when found it is likely that if they had still been lost when the bad weather hit it could well have proved fatal for them, police said.

Police said this was a salutary lesson to those using the outdoors to always follow the outdoor safety code.

This is a salutary lesson to those using the outdoors to always follow the outdoor safety code.

Outdoor Safety:



•    Plan your trip.

•    Tell someone where you are going and when you will return so they know  

when to raise the alarm.

•    Be aware of the weather.

•    Know your limits.

•    Take sufficient supplies.  (This includes food, clothing to cover all  

eventualities, and a means of communication.)

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

'Hiding from the council': Rotorua's secret pod shelter for homeless

Rotorua Daily Post

Serious injuries in BoP crash, road closed


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation
Rotorua Daily Post

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

They argue amalgamation ignores Eastern Bay interests and priorities.

15 Jul 10:57 PM
Premium
Premium
'Hiding from the council': Rotorua's secret pod shelter for homeless
Rotorua Daily Post

'Hiding from the council': Rotorua's secret pod shelter for homeless

15 Jul 09:44 PM
Serious injuries in BoP crash, road closed
Rotorua Daily Post

Serious injuries in BoP crash, road closed

15 Jul 09:32 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP