Australia: Rescues of Tourists Underscore Risks of Outback Travel

By Larry Habegger | Permalink | No Comments | December 5th, 2006 | Trackback

Two recent incidents involving the rescue of travelers serve as reminders of the risk of travel in the Outback. Four people were driving in the Northern Territory from Alice Springs to Nyrippi when they had a flat tire they could not repair. As night fell they abandoned the vehicle and began walking to an outstation hoping to find help. Eighteen hours later one of them arrived and was able to call police, who found the others severely dehydrated on the remote road, some five miles from the vehicle. Police strongly recommend informing someone of your travel plans when driving remote roads, and urge travelers to stay with their vehicles if they break down. In an incident that one point of view might call karmic, an Irish tourist and his 13-year-old daughter were rescued by helicopter on Uluru (Ayers Rock) when searing heat and inadequate preparation stranded them on the climb. Rangers closed the trail because of extreme heat at 8 a.m. after the two had already begun, and the man, in plastic sandals, suffered severe blistering when he removed them to walk barefoot. They both were severely dehydrated when rescued. Despite the wishes of Uluru’s traditional Aboriginal owners that visitors not climb the rock, some 200,000 do annually.

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