Lucky escape after cliff drop reversing manoeuvre

French tourist Margot Loyer at the scene of her accident. With her are Senior Constable Nigel Buckingham (left) and British tourist Paul Foster. Photo / Mark Price, Otago Daily Times

A French tourist who backed her rental car over a cliff above Lake Wanaka early yesterday afternoon had a lucky escape from serious injury.

Margot Loyer (26), of Nimes in the south of France, was travelling alone from Queenstown to Franz Josef on State Highway 6 between Lake Hawea and Makarora.

Ms Loyer, who had been working as a ''woofer'' in the Queenstown area, told the Otago Daily Times at the scene she had wanted to visit the Blue Pools and thought she had missed the turnoff.

She was completing a U-turn in her Apex Rental Corolla, near Windy Point, when she backed over a low mound of gravel between the road and the cliff.

The car tumbled about 30m to 40m down the near vertical, bush-clad cliff towards the lake before coming to rest on its side.

Senior Constable Nigel Buckingham said the car was caught by the bush, which stopped it falling the remaining 50m to 60m to the lake.

He considered Ms Loyer was extremely lucky the car came to a stop where it did.

Ms Loyer, who had been wearing a seat belt, said she scrambled out a broken window, giving no thought to whether she was injured.

She and the car were not visible from above, so she began climbing back up towards the road.

About 10m from the road the cliff became too steep to climb so Ms Loyer waved her pink top to attract attention.

A group of four tourists from Newcastle, in England, travelling towards Haast, spotted Ms Loyer, although they said they did not immediately realise the urgency of the situation.

They stopped and a member of the group, Paul Foster, said they formed a human-chain to haul Ms Loyer back up to the road.

Ms Loyer was shocked and had minor cuts and scratches but appeared otherwise unharmed when spoken to by the ODT.

She was disappointed to have lost her cellphone.

Snr Const Buckingham said the car was badly damaged. When he left it, its indicator lights were still going.

Ms Loyer was taken back to Wanaka by police last night.

She is due to fly home from Auckland in a fortnight.

Ms Loyer was about 30km short of the Blue Pools when the accident happened.