Lost trio spared second cold night

Heavy mist compounded the trio's situation. Photo / Thinkstock

Tony Templeton was preparing to hunker down with his young daughters for a second night in the South Island high country.

Authorities had just told him on his cellphone that the search for the trio had been called off for the day, and that would mean he and daughters, Rachel, 11, and Rebecca, 9, would need to huddle together to stay warm for another night in his 4WD parked in the rugged Waitaki Valley.

"I had actually starting pulling the covers off the back seats so we could get a bit more warmth," Mr Templeton told the Herald.

Their packed lunch from Tuesday had been eaten, and they were left with boxes of apricots and plums to keep them going.

"My youngest wasn't very happy to be spending a second night. My oldest, she has special needs. She doesn't verbalise. She was as happy as."

As they were preparing for that second long night, respite suddenly arrived.

Local land owner Hugh Cameron, with Omarama police on board his helicopter, found the lost threesome about 9pm on Wednesday, at a height of 1371m at the top of the Otamatapaio Spur. The family were then led out to safety.

"It was a good feeling," said Mr Templeton, who lavished praise on the search teams.

Mr Templeton, of Oamaru, set out in his Toyota Surf with his daughters about midday on Tuesday into the Oteake Conservation Park, with no intention of making an overnight trip.

"There was one track I had been part way up, and I wanted to take the girls up to show them. It's absolutely awesome country up there."

He thought the track went up and over a ridge and came out the other side, but they became lost.

"We should have probably turned around and come back. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best of ideas.

"Basically we ended up coming down the other side in darkness, and parked up for the night. I wasn't aware that we had actually entered private property.

"It rained that night, and it was basically the white-out conditions [from mist] the next morning that were the real concern. You couldn't see anything. And there were tracks branching off in every direction. It's just so vast up there."

The first night was testing.

"We were all cuddled up together, and we had a blanket each. It was a bit of a long night but we got through it. My concern was with the fact that we had ended out for the night, and I didn't want to be out for a second."