Injured motorcyclist found in sand dunes

A hurt motorcyclist who spent the night lying beside his machine in sand hills on Auckland's west coast was found this morning.

Searching police found him at South Head about 8.30am.


The man waved to the Eagle police helicopter and he was picked up by the Westpac rescue helicopter.

The 42-year-old man's condition was not known but it was thought he may have broken his pelvis when he fell yesterday.

He made a cell phone call last night to a relative but his phone cut out before he could say where he was.

Police had been searching all night and were becoming increasingly worried about the man's condition.

Westpac helicopter crewman Ernie Bryant said the man probably fell off his motorcycle about midday yesterday but with leg and pelvis injuries could not move.

He survived 20 hours, first in the hot sun and then in the cold of the night before the police helicopter found him in a remote gully on the northern end of Muriwai Beach today.

He said the man lay on the ground and saw the searching police and Westpac helicopters overhead but they failed to spot him on the infrared heat seeking gear until shortly after first light today.

Mr Bryant said: "They missed him by metres with their gear because of where he was."

He said the man was round the corner from South Head in a very remote area.

The man tried several times to call for help during the day on his cellphone but could not make a connection from the remote area.

Mr Bryant said when he tried again last night atmospheric conditions had improved. He reached a family member and the police were called.

"It is needle in a haystack stuff and you are trying to find a motorbike in amongst a huge area. It is very easy to miss people and he was in amongst two low-lying dunes, so it would be very easy from the air to be on the wrong angle and miss him all together," he said.

He said the man was dressed in motorcycle leathers and had dehydrated after lying in the hot sun before the cold of the night.

The police helicopter landed first and called Westpac.

Mr Bryant said when they reached the man he was in good condition but could not move and still lay where he was when he fell off.

"He was conscious and alert and talking to us. He couldn't get up," he said.

The man was flown to North Shore Hospital.

- NZPA