Two bushwalkers were rescued in fading light at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
Just after 3.30pm yesterday afternoon (Sunday, 20 April), a man and woman in their 20s who had set out for a bushwalk shortly after lunchtime at the Elvina Trail, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, called Triple Zero (000) to report that they had become lost.
The couple had left their vehicle in the car park at the head of the Elvina Trail, just off West Head Road, before walking down the trail. According to the man, he and his partner had followed what they believed to be a formal trail before realising they had literally wandered off the beaten track.
For a time they had attempted to find their own way back to the path using GPS on their phone, but finding themselves at the edge of a rocky escarpment and difficult terrain, realised they were potentially making matters worse.
Noticing there was a limited amount of daylight left, they called emergency services for help. They had drinking water and sufficient phone battery and reception to stay in contact with rescuers, who told them not to move from their location.
NSW Police and NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews from Terrey Hills and Coal and Candle Brigades responded to West Head Road. With an accurate position on the lost couple, officers attached to Northern Beaches Police Area Command made their way through thick scrub from the north, while an RFS walking party made their way in from the south, via a creek line off the Elvina Trail.
RFS firefighters reached the pair just before 5.00pm as the sun began touching the horizon, meeting up with police. Together, they made their way back out to the south via the creek. They arrived back at the Elvina Trail just before 5.45pm as last light was fading.
As mosquito swarms moved in to feast on the walking party, the couple gave details of what happened to the police, and were given a lift back to their vehicle at the car park, departing the scene safely just after 6.00pm.
Terrey Hills Rural Fire Brigade Deputy Captain Andrew Bicknell said the pair had done ‘the right thing’, taking water and calling for help when they did.
“We had a couple of people who found their way in and got lost coming back out to the car, so we went in and helped them. It was a bit treacherous getting in and out.
“There wasn’t a trail where we found them. It was probably about 2km from the actual trail. By the time we found them, they had tried to take a short cut back to their car, which had gotten them right in the middle of the bush,” explained Deputy Captain Bicknell.
“We had a what3words reference for them, which meant that we could find exactly where they were, but getting to them was the challenging bit. But we found them and we had to come out the same way we went in, which was a lot of very thick bush bashing.
“They did the right thing. They called us nice and early. Often people leave it too late and leave it until the sun is setting. In this case, they called us nice and early and we got them out just as the sun was setting,” said Deputy Captain Bicknell.
There were no reports of injuries as a result of the incident.
Images: Northern Beaches Advocate
Remote and difficult rescues on the Northern Beaches are surprisingly common. Anywhere without a defined street address can prove difficult for emergency services to locate, even relatively benign locations such as beach and headland walks. It is strongly recommended to download the Emergency Plus app on your phone in case you ever need it.
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