Young Argentine Noe Caffesse sat last night with legs crossed on his Timaru Hospital bed, lips and teeth stained black from drinking charcoal - a souvenir from his less-than-magical trip.
For 36 hours the 19-year-old cleaner and barman lay unconscious in bush near Lake Tekapo after eating three poisonous toadstools -
which he had mistaken for hallucinogenic magic mushrooms.
He found the mushrooms near Mt John, but as soon as he took them he started to feel "strange".
He then became disoriented and said the last thing he remembered was falling over.
"When I woke up, I felt really sick so I started walking home."
Police and volunteers searched for him on Thursday but he was found asleep in his room at 6.30am on Friday. Mr Caffesse said despite having no food or water for two days he was feeling fine after taking charcoal to absorb the poison.
National Poisons Centre medical toxicologist Dr Michael Beasley said Mr Caffesse probably took a species called Amanita muscaria - "Satan's mushroom" .
"It causes central nervous system depression. It causes general drowsiness which in severe form can go into deep sleep and coma."
- NZPA
