Lost tourist spends cold night in the bush

Police search and rescue teams were out most of the night searching for a 27 year old Swiss woman who had got lost on a day walk up Essens Valley, near Picton.

The woman sent a text message to a friend in Christchurch about 5.30pm asking for help and saying she had walked to a dam and then on to the summit, but was now lost. Calls to her cell phone went unanswered.

The woman was lightly clad and not equipped for a night in the bush.

Two search teams worked until 3.30 this morning without finding the woman. The search resumed at 6.30am today with two ground teams and a SAR dog.

The searchers came across the woman about 7.30am walking along the track.

Search coordinator Sergeant Bill Talbot said the woman was very cold, but otherwise well. She told searchers she had heard them calling for her in the night, but the search teams had not heard her calling back due to river noise.

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