A Dunedin hunter who dreamt of eating hot food while lost in the Blue Mountains finally got his wish after he was found by rescuers after two nights in freezing conditions.
Kayne O'Connor (27), who moved to Dunedin from Auckland a few months ago, described his ordeal yesterday and vowed to return the area northwest of Balclutha, saying he had unfinished business, after failing to shoot a deer.
Mr O'Connor was found in a stretch of dense native bush, wet, extremely cold and disoriented, but otherwise unhurt, about 2.30pm on Monday, after failing to make it out with two fellow hunters on Saturday.
As his stay in freezing conditions dragged on, searchers and his family increasingly began to fear the worst.
Mr O'Connor said he kept himself warm by staying on his feet during the day and digging a pit and covering himself in bark at night.
At one point he wrote the word "cold'' in the snow, which was later found by searchers along with his footprints.
Despite being soaking wet and having feet and hands numb with cold he managed to get some sleep, waking up to find himself surrounded by snow.
"I had a few dreams about eating hot food.''
It was a feeling of relief when his searchers finally found him.
"I was surprised to see them because I hadn't seen anyone for two days.
"They were quite happy to see me ... They thought I might have been dead,'' Mr O'Connor said.
Sleeping in a warm bed in Balclutha and having a hot meal on Monday night felt "pretty good''.
He had learnt a few valuable lessons from his experience and next time he went into the bush he would take a GPS device with spare batteries, and a waterproof map.
But he had not been put off hunting and said he would return to the area in as little as two weeks.
After an anxious time waiting for her son to be found, Deborah Hawkes, who travelled down from Auckland, was keen for him to at least wait until summer before he returned to the bush.
Finding out her son had been found just after she landed in Dunedin was "overwhelming'', she said.
Senior Constable Murray Hewitson, of Owaka, said there was a lot of "hollering and high fives'' when searchers heard the news he had been found.
After searchers heard him fire gun shots on Sunday, there was silence on Monday and there were worries he could have been swept away in one of the area's creeks which had turned into "raging torrents'' following heavy rain on Saturday, Snr Const Hewitson said.
Mr O'Connor was in "remarkable nick'' for what he had been through.
"I'm sure another night in there might have really had its toll on him.''
In an "ideal world'' hunters in the same situation should carry GPS equipment, spare batteries, a map, and stay in one place.
Missing people who moved around risked "wandering right out of the search area''.
The search operation ran smoothly, which was largely down to the quality of the volunteers, some of whom kept searching until 2am on Sunday and then went back out again at 7am.
"We were lucky in that we possibly had 20 people with intimate knowledge of that area.''
