KEY POINTS:
Tourists trapped by rising floodwaters in North Otago were rescued yesterday by locals who towed them to safety.
The 10 tourists - from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Columbia, Czech Republic, Germany and the United States - spent three nights trapped at the Department of Conservation's Trotters Gorge campsite.
The tourists had hoped to stay one night at the campsite before exploring the nearby Moeraki boulders, the Otago Daily Times reported.
But persistent rain from Friday made two Trotters Creek fords impassable, forcing the five pairs of travellers to wait for help.
Trotters Gorge resident Steve Kelly rigged a pulley system winching supplies of drinking water, milk, bread and chocolate biscuits to the stranded campers after he became aware of their predicament.
One of the campers called emergency services on Sunday, after climbing for an hour to get a signal on his mobile phone: "They told us to wait for rescue. But we hear nothing," one camper said
Yesterday Mr Kelly enlisted the help of another local Chris Hazlewood to help the tourists.
Towing a 6m trailer behind his Toyota Land Cruiser, Mr Hazlewood crossed the flooded fords to take the campers and their hired vehicles to safety.
- NZPA
