Missing elderly tramper walks out of bush

An elderly day tramper who went missing last night in Gladstone Valley near Levin, walked out of the bush this morning unharmed.

Sergeant Andy Brooke said the 70-year-old man walked out onto Gladstone Road around 8.30am this morning after spending the night in the bush in a make-shift shelter.

"We had just dropped off a van-load of people on Gladstone Road to look for him when he walked out," Mr Brooke said.

"He had gone off the track yesterday and was making his way out, but at around 5pm he decided to make a shelter out of vegetation and spend the night in the bush."

He then followed a deer fence out onto Gladstone Road this morning.

Mr Brooke said the man, who is from Levin, had food, water and warm clothes with him, but no tent or sleeping bag.

The man became separated from a group of trampers yesterday morning, telling them he would follow at his own pace.

When the group returned along the same route, they found a note saying he was turning back.

However, he was not at the car park when the group returned.

Police were alerted around 6pm and a search and rescue operation was immediately launched.

- NZPA