Elderly man's 600km 'wrong turn'

MELBOURNE - Victorian police have helped an elderly NSW man find his way home after an epic nine-hour road trip that took him more than 600km off course and far into the wrong state.

The 80-year-old identified as Eric, from Pambula, on the NSW south coast, set off from a friend's house in Yass, southwest of Sydney, about 7.15am on Monday for the trip home.

Police believe Eric took a wrong turn and stayed on the Hume Highway, taking him across the Victorian border at Albury-Wodonga and on towards Melbourne.

Eric was 630km west of Pambula, and 654km away from Yass, when his adventure ended.

"I was stretching my legs ... when this little old man came up to me saying he was lost," Senior Constable Clayton Smith said.

"He handed me his mobile and asked if I could speak to his wife."

The man's wife was frantic with worry, telling police he had been on the road for nine hours.

"Believe me, we never expected for her to say he had driven from Yass," Mr Smith said.

"When we asked him why he hadn't stopped earlier he replied, `I just like to drive'."

- AAP

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