• Two children, aged 8 and 11, have been found after being missing overnight in remote Southland bush.
• The pair became lost after wandering away from their DOC campsite near Mavora Lakes on Saturday afternoon.
• A massive land and air search was carried out for the missing children. A rescue team member said the children were in remarkably “good spirits” when found.
• The two children have been reunited with their parents and are recovering with family.

Two brave kids spent a night in the thick Southland bush sheltering from heavy rain under a tree - and while they only slept for 3 hours, they never gave up hope.

Charlie McLean, 8, and an 11-year-old girl were found around 10.30am on Sunday morning after they went missing from the Mavora Lakes campsite around 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

Brent McLean, the father of Charlie, said five kids went off to play while the adults were pitching tents and lighting a fire at the DOC campsite, but only three came back.

“The kids had gone into the bush just to play. Three of them came back and two of them wandered off and got disorientated,” he said.

McLean said the camping area at Mavora Lakes was very beautiful, but the bush was dense and could be disorientating.

“I think they were just playing a game and ended up too far away from the camping and couldn't see through the trees.

“They just got lost,” he said.

McLean said when the adults realised they were not returning, they panicked. There were three groups of friends with children, he said.

On Sunday afternoon, as he was driving to Te Anau to meet his son, who was taken by helicopter with his mother to the rescue centre, McLean said he went through a roller coaster of emotions.

He’d had no sleep and been part of the 40-strong team who started the 20-hour search and rescue operation.

“They brought helicopters, fire trucks, communication trucks, police trucks, everyone was there.

“This morning they put the helicopter back in the air and ... they were found in a clearing in the thick bush just up the lake,” Brent said. “It was a hell of a relief.”

He said both the kids were in “remarkably” good spirits, considering it was also “bucketing down” overnight at the campsite.

“And Charlie reckons he got three hours sleep. They are very brave, I wish I was that brave. It would have been bloody scary.”

After being found, Charlie told his father they never gave up hope.

Lost children looked out for each other

Rescuer winchman Richie Hunter said Charlie and the 11-year-old girl were in remarkably “good spirits” and survived the challenging winter conditions because they stuck together.

Rescuers found the pair in a clearing 1.5km from their campground.

Hunter said the environmental conditions made the rescue and survival of the children challenging.

“Despite a really challenging night with weather with lightning, thunder, heavy rain and snow, when we saw them they were looking after each other.

“I believe that’s what lead to their survival – that they stuck together..”

Once the children were found, Hunter said ground staff cleared land for a helicopter, and they were flown to the campground.

The children were then taken to the search base for medical assessments.

‘Top-notch’ rescue operation

A huge land and air search set off to look for the children at first light on Sunday morning.

Sergeant Terry Wood said the children could hear search teams as they sheltered under a tree from the rain overnight.

“They huddled down under a tree that the little girl talked about having ‘faces in the bark’.”

Wood said the kids had a phone, but no reception. They woke in the morning to the sound of rescue helicopters, Wood said.

There was a “whoop of delight” when the children were found, he said.

KAVINDA HERATH/STUFF

Southland District Mayor Rob Scott said 45 searchers were involved by 8.15am on Sunday.

“The search and rescue team is top-notch. They definitely have the right people on the ground,” he said before the children were found.

He praised the dedicated team who found the children.

”I have been hoping and hoping and hoping all day... [The children] have obviously done a pretty good job of looking after themselves,” he said.

The area was “pretty remote” but the campground was popular and likely had a few families there for the school holidays. There were a variety of tracks towards the lake, river, and hills from the campground, which is split into two sections.

Southland District councillor Tom O’Brien said the area around the campground was relatively flat and open but with some beech forest near the lake before it got mountainous further away.

“There’s been quite a bit of rain, but the temperature has been not as cold as it has been,” he said.

MetService meteorologist April Clark said the overnight low in the closest station to the site, at Lumsden, was 6.6C. There was cloud and westerly winds on Saturday and a light shower early on Sunday morning.

Police southern area commander Mike Bowman thanked everyone who was involved in the search, including volunteers who travelled from around the Southern region.