British tourist rescued after two days lost in Australian Outback

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British tourist rescued after two days lost in Australian Outback
British tourist rescued after two days lost in Australian Outback




A British tourist who got lost after taking a 'short cut' in the Australian bush has been found after sparking a £375,000 rescue mission.

Geoff Keys, who's on a bike riding tour of Australia, had planned to swim from his camp at Canal Creek to beauty spot Eliot Falls, but realised he had lost his way.

See also: Top 10 unusual experiences in Australia

Instead of retracing his path back through the river, he decided to try and take a short cut through the bush - and went missing for two days.

Geoff, 63, found himself completely lost in the 900-square-mile Jardine River National Park after just a few minutes.

He had no food and no shoes on, and was wearing just shorts, a T-shirt and a hat.

According to the Mirror, he said: "I was convinced the track was nearby and walking back would have been easier."

However, he never found a track, and then came across another stream, which he swam up for two hours thinking it might take him back to camp.

He said: "It took me about two hours to realise it wasn't the same creek. I kept swimming – it seemed the sensible thing to do."

His friends reported him missing and he slept the night out in the bush.

The next day, he saw helicopters overheard, and continued swimming downstream until he came to a sandbank.

According to the Brisbane Times, he said: "It seemed a good idea to help myself as much as possible so I got out of the water, found a stick and wrote a message in the sand, just in case the helicopter came down that way. HELP. 2807. –>. Help, today's date and my direction of travel."

The move saved his life, because a day later search and rescue co-ordinator Senior Constable Brad Foat spotted it.

Geoff returned to the bank after a second night in the bush, and saw the helicopter overhead. He started jumping up and down "like a lunatic" and was spotted by the rescue team, before being winched to safety.

"It's safe to say that I'm very grateful to everyone involved in my rescue. Their skill and professionalism is incredible. I feel stupid but lucky."



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