A 75-year-old man has been found safe and well after spending a night lost on the Nullarbor Plain.
The man, who police said had good bushcraft skills, was reportedly travelling from Perth to visit family in Tasmania when he pulled into the Eyre Bird Observatory, described online as ‘one of the least populated places on the planet’ on Sunday.
The ABC reports that the observatory is about 35 kilometres south of the Eyre Highway along a sandy four-wheel drive track and about 300 kilometres west of the South Australian border.
The traveller apparently had a quick look around the museum and homestead, before leaving at about 2pm. However, the observatory’s volunteer caretaker, Mick, saw the man’s car was still parked outside and guessed he had then gone on a walk.
The Nullarbor is one of the remotest places on earth. PIC: Cizza
Mick became concerned when the car was still parked there three hours later and notified police.
Sergeant Dale Grice, the officer in charge of the Eucla Police Station, told the ABC that two officers were sent from Eucla, about a three-and-a-half-hour drive away.
“We’ve made an assessment of the general situation: the weather, the time that he’d been gone, the terrain in the area,” he said. “And of the danger posed to that gentleman … we assessed that it was a reasonably high risk.”
The ABC reports that, as police and State Emergency Services from Norseman, Kalgoorlie and Esperance travelled to help join the search, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority jet was sent from the east coast to search for the man with heat-sensing technology.
The man was then located in a makeshift camp and the coordinates were passed on to Eucla Police, who then met the man on the ground at about 6:20am Monday morning, when the temperature was around 1.9 degree Celsius.
“He was relieved,” Sergeant Grice told the ABC. “He has said to the guys that he knew someone would come … he was an experienced bushman, he was an ex-farmer and he also used to work for the Parks Department in Tasmania … so he was well experienced in bushcraft.”
Police said the man had written a message in the ground, stating the time and an arrow showing the direction he was walking, and he had then set up a camp, using bushes and shrubs.
“He’s set up a mattress using those and then he’s made himself a bit of a blanket out of them to cover himself,” Sergeant Grice told the ABC.
The man had apparently become disoriented when visiting the beach near the observatory and taken the wrong path back.
“It’s pretty remote area there,” Sergeant Grice said. “So, it’s easy to be done.”
Sergeant Grice urged others to always let another person know before going on a walk, particularly in isolated parts of the country.
“If the caretakers at Eyre Bird [Observatory] hadn’t been so observant and reported the matter … this gentleman would have become even more lost,” he said. “And that would have made our search area absolutely massive.”
Despite being alone for about 15 hours, police said the ‘very fit and able’ 75-year-old was in a good condition. The ABC reports that officers offered to take the man to hospital, but he declined and continued his travels.
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I am reasonably bush savvy, having lived in the bush nearly all my life, but when I am in unfamiliar terrain I always take a personal GPS with me if I head off into thick bush. They can be a bit expensive, but well worth it if you are inclined to explore.
Safety in Numbers Also good idea + hand held ufh radio.?+ beacon?
Also a method to light a fire along with water.
I always carry my charged up Zoleo when getting off the beaten track. Not only does this give me confidence to travel in remote regions but would save a great deal of expense if the emergency services are able to locate me quickly.