The ranger tried radioing in with the CB, but
there was no reception where we were. We were stranded
goodness knows where, with no food, no water, and no
supplies. We decided to walk back to civilisation, and
discovered upon walking down the hill that we were near the
Murrumbidgee River. We headed off with some maps down some
fire trails. We eventually came across a creek with
some water, it was getting to be a very hot day (32
degrees), and the walk was mostly uphill which was really
tiring. We could not determine where we were on the maps
we had, which we kept on re-evaluating, we would get
to the point where we thought we knew where we were,
and then we would come across another trail or
landmark that would negate our findings. By half past two
in the afternoon (after many executive decision
about which tracks to follow, and an incident with a
copperhead snake) we came to a point that the ranger
recognised, it turned out that we didn't have a map for where
we were - as we were much further away from where we
thought we were. We were all getting very tired by this
stage and had walked about 20km (I have the blisters on
my feet as a memory!). About half an hour later we
could hear the noise of a vehicle - and about 5 minutes
later a couple of 4WD (real ones this time!) came over
the hill - the Rangers had come to rescue
us.
During the night some other friends came out to look for
us as my sister-in-law had called them to tell them
that the mountain bikers had not returned, and that my
brother and I had not returned home or contacted her, so
they came out to have a look and discovered my car and
Neil's car out there.
In the morning the ranger
that we were with didn't turn up to a meeting, which
concerned the other rangers (as we were with their boss),
and her light had been left on at home. So they
decided to search for her - and came across the bike
riders (who had essentially rescued themselves, but that
is another story).
So what happened to the
bike riders, you may ask! Well, they had ridden to the
hut (10km) on their bike ride, and ridden past the
hut another 15km, before they realised that they had
not come across a turn they were meant to turn on. It
was late by this stage and they had to turn around
and ride back to the hut where they planned to stay
the night another 15km back. Thats a total of 40km.
Apparently there was much debate about whether to camp out
in the open air, or ride back to the hut as they
were tired and had almost run out of water - I'm glad
they went back to the hut, it got quite cold overnight
(and they were only wearing shorts and t-shirts), plus
there is a wild boar problem in the park. They camped
there the night, rationing out their energy bars and
lollies in the morning before the ride back - there was a
fresh water tank at the hut, so they had plenty of
water. Anyway, about 2km from the campsite David had a
nasty accident run in with a gate post, as he was tired
and fatigued, and cut his face open, they had to take
him to hospital - he had eight stitches in his face,
which have now been removed. He will have a lovely scar
to remind him of his ordeal.
Well, I think
there are several things to learn from this
adventure:
1. If you get lost in the forest, stay with your
vehicle (especially if you are near a river and have
shelter in the vehicle) - as you will eventually be
found!
2. Always take a map, GPS (if you have it), plenty
of food and water, and some wet weather gear, some
matches, a pocket knife, basic first aid etc etc. (My god,
how do you carry all of this?)
3. Tell someone who
isn't with you, what you are planning to do.
There
are probably more morals to this story, but I can't
think of them at the moment.
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