Father and son rescued in Ruahine Forest Park helped by survival skills, quick thinking

Michaela Gower

3 Jul, 2024 01:36 PM

Mark (left) and Connor Gilmour became lost in the Ruahine Forest Park in Tararua but were found later after a decision to call for help. Photo / Mark Gilmour

A father-son trip into the Ruahine Forest Park near Dannevirke ended in a rescue partly aided by survival skills taught to the son during Duke of Edinburgh training.

Mark Gilmour, 53, and Connor, 15, set off from a park near Fairbrother Rd on their hike to the Kiritaki Hut on Friday around 8.30am, looking for a new hunting spot.

Mark, an avid hunter, knew the area well, but said as they went to return they became disorientated on an overgrown and unmarked track.

“We were navigating by feel, but I knew the lay of the land and knew where I needed to be and we were doing alright.”

The pair decided to follow a creek and didn’t feel they had become lost and were in trouble until darkness started to set in and they came across three high waterfalls.

They became bluffed by one, which was too steep to get past.

“There were two or three decent-sized waterfalls - fall over them and die kind of stuff - and we were rapidly out of daylight.”

Remarkably, Connor’s phone had service and his training from his Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award convinced his dad to make a call to home for help about 5.15pm.

“He said ‘they taught us at Duke of Edinburgh to call for help before it’s too late’,” Gilmour said.

Emergency services were then alerted and the pair - well-equipped with clothing, torches, and charged cellphones - settled in and waited to be rescued.

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Gilmour said they kept a positive mentality and decided to work their way back up the stream to meet the rescue team when they were greeted with lights.

He said being overprepared could be life-saving and in this case, they had done the preparation.

Tararua Land Search and Rescue responded at 5.38pm and co-ordinated a response and found the pair about 8pm.

Senior Constable Wayne Churchouse said the Gilmours had done everything right, and, despite intermittent cellphone reception, they were able to send a link to the phone to access their location.

“They made good choices and were well prepared. They were only going for a day trip but they had torches and enough gear to keep them alive overnight.”

Churchouse said another key piece of equipment when heading into the bush was a personal locator beacon.

These could be hired from Tararua Land Search and Rescue for $5 a trip.

“If you get into trouble you activate that and it sends a signal up to the satellite and it goes to the rescue coordinator centre in Hutt Valley and they will contact me.”

He said from there it was easier to send a helicopter or rescue team to ensure the best outcome, as often cell service wasn’t available.