LOST IN THE BUSH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22328, 31 July 1934, Page 10

LOST IN THE BUSH

PLIGHT OF GIRL TRAMPERS AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE (Pes United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, July 30. To spend a winter's night lost in the dense bush of the Waitakeres was the experience of three Auckland girls on Sunday. The party consisted of two sisters, Miss Lillian Orraerod and Miss Marjorie Oraerod, of Heme Bay, and Miss Ida Little, of Freeman's Bay. AH three are keen and experienced trampers, and they returned to their homes to-night little the worse for their adventure. "We had lost our direction in the bush when we were overtaken by darkness on Sunday," Miss Lillian Qrmerod said. "We knew then that the only sensible thing to do was to make ourselves as comfortable as we could round a fire and wait for daylight. It was not exactly a comfortable night, but it could have been much worse. We had no rugs or anything of that nature, but we pitched our camp—if you could call it that—in a sheltered spot on a bushcovered ridge. " We had matches, and it did not take us long to gather bracken and sticks and get a fire going. We had had nothing to eat since lunch time, so we had ample food for a meal. Later, we discussed moving on again by moonlight, but it seemed to us better to stay where we were. We did not bother about trying to sleep, but spent the night gathering fuel from close at hand and keeping ourselves warm by the fire."

At sunrise the three girls left the fire and made their way to the foot of a ridge. There they found a stream, and, lighting another fire, they soon had some water boiling to make tea. Their food supplies were still holding out, and after a breakfast of 6orts they set out again in search of some signs of > !vilisation. Throughout the morning they tramped through the bush and up and down ridges with halts at the top of each ridge to survey the surrounding country. They were all thankful that the weather remained fine.

Shortly after 3 o'clock, from the crest of a ridge, they saw beneath them the Wairere road, and knew then that their difficulties were over. Search parties of police and settlers had been scouring the district during the day.