Swiss tourist couple survive three days lost in the Australian Outback

Two Swiss tourists have been rescued after walking for three days in remote north western Australia.

A search and rescue mission was launched on Sunday for Gerald Augsburger, 62, and wife Lotti, 61, after they did not appear back at their motel in Kununurra.

Police said their four-wheel drive had become bogged on the Karunjie Track on Saturday, and the pair spent the next three days walking along the Pentecost River to the Gibb River Road.

According to 7News, they were found by two Wyndham residents on the Gibb River Road, about 5km east of the Pentecost River, which is about 100km from Kununurra.

The couple were taken to the Kununurra Police Station, and then onto the Kununurra District Hospital for check-ups.

This time, the story had a happy ending, but expert guidelines suggest holidaymakers don't leave their car in that kind of situation.

Survival expert Ben McNutt of Woodsmoke wilderness survival school said the couple probably would have taken the risk of possible micro-bacteria by drinking from the Pentecost River in order to survive.

He told the Daily Mail: "Being overweight would have worked against them initially as it is harder for a larger person to lose heat as fast as a tall and lanky person.

"The number one rule is stay with your car."

The Karunjie Track, where the couple got stuck, is an old stock route running between isolated cattle ranches, and was where key scenes in the film Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, were shot.

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