'For five days I didn't eat' , says exhausted tramper

A rescuer from the Summit Rescue Helicopter attends to James Esbester on the bed of the Crow River, about 10km from Mt Luna. Photo / Summit Rescue Helicopter

The English tourist spotted by a helicopter last night in the Kahurangi National Park says he can't describe the relief he felt when he was found.

James Esbester, 30, reported missing on Saturday, had become disoriented and had mistaken his route for the route back to the hut where his day walk began.

He was found by the Summit Rescue Helicopter about 8.10pm on the bed of the Crow River, about 10km from Mt Luna. He had intended to climb Mt Luna on the day he went missing.

He was taken to Nelson Hospital with suspected mild hypothermia, treated and discharged last night with no problems, a Nelson Hospital spokeswoman said.

Mr Esbester had no food but said exhaustion was more of a problem than hunger.

"I had taken half a day's worth of snacks which was mostly gone by the time I got down the mountain so for the next five days I didn't eat. I was more tired than hungry. It became more and more of an effort to get around.

"I stopped in two places, first I slipped a little down a hillside and cut my arm. I decided to stop and check it out and make sure I hadn't damaged myself, but the clearing where I stopped wasn't very big and there wasn't much visibility overhead. If Search and Rescue was after me it wasn't a good spot. After three days I found a good spot," Mr Esbester told Radio Live.

Mr Esbester was following the stream in the wrong direction when he was picked up.

"James was well prepared for a day walk and the clothes he had were good for the conditions but he had had no food with him to last five days," Summit Rescue helicopter pilot Jarrod Colbourne said.

He was exhausted with low blood sugar but once we got him back to the hut and got some sugar into him he came round pretty quickly actually, Mr Colbourne told NZPA.

Mr Esbester said he felt unimaginable relief when he saw the helicopter as he was not sure if he had been reported missing or not. Seeing his brother and family was "the best feeling really".

Mr Esbester had started the Wangapeka track, 75km southwest of Motueka, at the southern end of the park, on Wednesday. The next morning he wrote in a hut log book that he planned to climb Mt Luna as a day trip. However, on Saturday a tramping party raised the alarm after arriving at the hut and finding Mr Esbester's note and his equipment, including his passport and a sleeping bag.

- NZPA