Four missing trampers lost in the Kaimai Range was the scenario for a major search-and-rescue exercise in the Western Bay over the weekend.
As part of the exercise, rescuers spent most of the weekend scouring about 15km of dense bush and hilly terrain near Katikati for a man in his 40s and three teenage boys, two aged 16 and one aged 18.
The missing people were all members of a local adventure scout group headed into the Kaimais on Wednesday morning and expected back out of the bush on Friday afternoon but failed to walk out as scheduled.
The party was well-equipped with two tents and sufficient food, but it had rained on Thursday night and again quite heavily on Friday evening.
Land Search and Rescue Team member Roger Montgomerie told the Bay of Plenty Times the major concern was that one of group who were undertaking some training for a planned big tramp in the Ureweras may have fallen ill, gotten lost or become injured.
One of the younger teens had an asthmatic condition, but had his medication with him, he said. The Trustpower TECT Rescue helicopter was put on stand-by.
Mr Montgomerie said 11 search and rescue team members and their scout leader, accompanied by newly trained search-and-rescue dog Tess and handler Paul Robb, headed into the bush to search for the missing trampers at 8.30am on Saturday.
By 8.30pm they failed to find them so spent the night in the bush.
The "missing" group was found safe and well about 11.45am yesterday.
The trampers had set up camp on a hill about 1.5km from the road and waited for someone to come and find them.
The two-day exercise was carried out by Tauranga Land Search and Rescue (LSAR) and Police Search and Rescue teams.
An operations base was set up in a woolshed just below the Kaimais Pistol Club on Hot Springs Rd, and involved 22 search and rescue volunteers and four police, including Western Bay police search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Craig Madden.
Mr Montgomerie, who was training manager for the exercise, said the scenario was used to train the team of volunteers.
Volunteers in search-and-rescue test
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