Elderly tramper survives two nights alone in flooded forest

David Guise was rescued by a helicopter crew yesterday. Photo / Thinkstock

An elderly Auckland man survived a Fiordland flood by sitting on a rock for almost two days as water lapped around him.

Life-long tramper David Guise, 72, was recuperating in a private Te Anau residence last night, after being winched to safety about 10am yesterday.

Mr Guise was walking solo through the Cameron Mountains area, southwest of Te Anau - a tramp that would have taken about eight days.

But as a flash flood threatened to engulf him and his equipment, he managed to scramble to a 1m x 2m rock, surviving on rainwater and chocolate while trying to fix a broken beacon with his bare hands.

On Saturday night, at 6pm, he set up his bivvy about 40m from a small stream to sit out the two days of heavy rain he knew, via his satellite phone, was forecast. About two hours later, he felt water lapping around his feet and realised his bivvy sack was afloat.

"I thought, get up and go, because there'll be more water coming than that.

"It was just black. I couldn't see anything. I grabbed what was left of my stuff and my pack, one boot and my bivvy sack and scrambled up."

Mr Guise said the water rose 1m in the time it took him to prepare to leave.

He walked through above-knee-high water to where he knew a large tree was and where he hoped the water was shallower, about 10m away. "I stood there from about 10pm to 10am in the dark, with the water slowly inching up."

Mr Guise said he attempted to contact his wife by his sat-phone, but could not get reception. He had left his GPS device and provisions behind and began to feel he was in "deep trouble".

When the water started to rise again on Sunday morning, Mr Guise headed for what looked like solid ground, 20m away. He tested the water to see how deep it was, plunged in and could not feel the ground with his feet.

"The water in the forest was about 20m deep. I had never seen anything like this. I was swimming through a bloody forest."

Mr Guise swam to a another rock 40m away and used his bivvy and bag to stay afloat. He dragged himself up the 1m wide by 2m long rock, which had become an island on the edge of the forest.

Mr Guise wedged himself in on the surface, so he would not fall in the water in his sleep. He used his thumbnails to get into the broken beacon he had kept and eventually fixed it. Southern Lakes Helicopters were activated by the Southern Rescue Centre, about 9.30am.

The beacon alert took a three-man crew in a helicopter to a tributary off the Longburn River and rescued him.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES