Message in sand saves tourist lost in Australian bush

He wrote an SOS message, reading HELP 2807, along with an arrow pointing downstream towards his location in the sand in the hope that it might be spot it.

The retired mechanic was attempting a shortcut back to camp in the 900-square-mile Jardine National Park in north Queensland when he got off track, leading him to endure a tough ordeal without food, water or shelter. However, the Briton wound up more than 12 kilometres from his camp and, in a moment of madness, tried to swim to the Eliot Falls.

Search and Rescue co-ordinator Senior Constable Brad Foat waited with him.

“The only information I had was the man’s first name and that he had an English accent”.

The tourist had swam down a river in a bid to find the falls, but opted against swimming back – deciding instead to cut across the dense undergrowth. “I stood in midstream, yelling at the pilot to come back – and he did”, he wrote on his blog.

Mr Keys, who is separated with three grown-up children, now plans to travel to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and America.

A 63-year-old British tourist has described being rescued after spending two days lost in Queensland’s Jardine National Park.

‘I leapt off the bank into the creek but by the time I’d done so it had gone, ‘ he said. He successfully caught its attention by waving his hat and jumping “up and down like a lunatic”.

“Please believe me… I wont’ be doing it again”.

Senior Constable Foat said he was about to try a new tack, just as he spotted Mr Keys from the air.

He said: “As far as I was concerned there was only me to get myself out at that time, although I was always hopeful the helicopter would come over, which eventually it did”.

Helicopters had been about to move to another search area when they spotted the SOS, according to the BBC.

Thankfully for Mr Keys, the messasge was spotted by Queensland Police despite not being in the official search zone. “I’m sorry about the worry caused to friends and family”, Keys wrote.

Mr Keys set out on his round-the-world trip last April.

He was taken to hospital with exhaustion, dehydration, and deep cuts to his feet.

Police have estimated that the rescue operation cost around A$800,000 (£370,000).

“And here is where I made one of the stupidest decisions ever”, Keys wrote on his blog.