Tararua Ranges rescue 'amazing'

RELIEF: Robyn and David Hill relax at home after he was rescued after a night in the Tararua Ranges.

A Carterton man who survived a night lost in the Tararua Ranges has thanked the Search and Rescue team who waded through arm-pit deep water in the middle of the night to find him.

When 70-year-old David Hill, a tramper with 30 years experience, set off on a tramp last Saturday, it was meant to be a chance to enjoy the scenery on a pleasant day walk.

But it turned into an overnight ordeal when he became lost returning from Pinnacle, several hours from Holdsworth Lodge.

As the daylight started to fade at about 5pm, Mr Hill said he realised he would have to spend the night alone in the bush, and activated his emergency beacon.

"By then it was getting very dark so I found myself an area to settle down for the night ... I could see the sun getting low in the sky and I thought 'I'm not getting out tonight'."

"I [thought] I might as well set off the beacon so at least people would know where I was."

He thought it would be "too tricky" for a rescue team to reach him that night, but at about 3.30am he heard what he thought might be a bird call.

"I thought 'oh no, I'm imagining things'."

"I thought I heard a bird call in the bush and then I thought I heard another call back and I thought 'that's a whistle!'."

He blew his own whistle, and when he saw lights approaching, rushed to put on his head torch.

A team of five rescuers - two police officers, one paramedic and two volunteers - had tramped in on the Barra track, fording the Waingawa River in order to locate Mr Hill, who had mistakenly followed Fall Stream into the Waingawa Gorge, rather than following the Atiwhakatu Stream.

It was a real surprise to see the Search and Rescue team, to whom he was very grateful, Mr Hill said.

"I was absolutely amazed because I didn't expect someone until dawn. It was a real sense of relief.

"They were just so considerate and supportive and didn't make me feel stupid. They just made sure of everything, and made sure I got back - they were so concerned for my welfare."

He said he never thought he would need to use the beacon, or the emergency rations and whistle.

"All of the emergency gear that I've ever taken ... and I now really see the point of it."

The team decided not to walk out that night, instead lighting a fire, settling in for the night and tramping out the next day, reaching the end of the track at about 11am.

Mr Hill's wife, Robyn, who had received regular updates throughout the night, said she was thankful to the police and Search and Rescue for their dedication.

"It was just amazing. The police kept me informed through the night - it was quite a stressful night."

She was grateful to see Mr Hill the next morning, although he was somewhat battered and bruised.

"He was properly lost - he wouldn't have found his way out."

Search and Rescue incident controller Senior Constable Pete Cunningham said Mr Hill using the emergency beacon was "absolutely crucial" to the team finding him.

"Having that location gives us a point where we can send the search straight to, to find out why [he] pressed the button ... to try to find him without that beacon we would have to have put more teams in and cover a massive area."

Emergency beacons were essential for anyone planning to tramp or hunt in an area where there was no cellphone coverage, Mr Cunningham said.

"If you break a leg or injure yourself and you can't walk, then you've got to wait ... imagine lying there with a broken leg for 24 hours; or being picked up by a helicopter within an hour or a few hours."

Mr Cunningham commended Mr Hill on being prepared and making the right decision to stay put.

"He was well-equipped and did everything correctly - and pushing the button was the right thing to do."