Nimmitabel and Cooma emergency services were called into action on the weekend after reports two men had failed to return from an overnight camping trip to the South East Forest National Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kalaru’s Scott Alcock and his 34-year-old friend Darren Inglis of Wollongong had set out on a camping trip on Tuesday, but became stranded when their vehicle broke down on Wednesday.
The men’s four-wheel-drive engine flooded and stalled when they were crossing a creek on Tantawangalo Mountain near Postman’s Creek.
“Although we overstocked on food we started rationing food straight away,” Mr Alcock said. “We didn’t know when someone would be coming for us.”
Nimmitabel police were notified late Friday night that the men had failed to return. They were joined by SES from Cooma and Nimmitabel who were briefed at Nimmitabel station before starting a search for the lost men on Saturday morning.
Mr Alcock said he and his friend had planned on camping at a closer campsite before a ranger advised Postmans as a more scenic option.
With no mobile phone reception and the vehicle unable to start, they knew they shouldn’t walk too far from where they were stuck until they were found.
“The reality of it all kicked in on Friday that nobody was there yet and we decided if we didn’t see anyone by Saturday morning we would go for a longer walk,” he said.
When the pair failed to return to Kalaru on Thursday, Mr Inglis’s work colleague Anthony Yates raised the alarm with emergency services.
The Westpac helicopter located the men early on Saturday morning. They winched a man down from the helicopter to see if the campers were okay. Police and SES arrived on the scene and helped tow the vehicle out of the area and the men returned home safely.
“I’ve never been so happy to see a helicopter in my life,” Mr Alcock said.