A Dunedin couple have returned to the city after a tramping ordeal on Mitre Peak.
Te Anau police and members of a Search and Rescue team rescued a 30-year-old Dunedin woman from the Footstool area of Mitre Peak on Thursday evening, after she thought she had broken her ankle.
The woman's partner, who was tramping with her, went to get help about 2.30pm, climbing down the mountain then kayaking to the village, where he alerted police about 7.15pm.
Te Anau police co-ordinated the woman's rescue, which involved a Southern Lakes helicopter crewed with a doctor and paramedic. She was winched from the site and flown to Southland Hospital in Invercargill.
Sergeant Tod Hollebon, of Te Anau, said if the trampers had carried a means of communication, such as an emergency locater beacon, their rescue would have been much faster.
Last night, Te Anau police said the couple had returned to Dunedin.
The woman's leg was in plaster but she was otherwise uninjured. She declined to comment.
