Three bushwalkers from Werribee have spent a freezing night lost in Lerderderg State Park, near Bacchus Marsh, with only a child’s hoodie and makeshift structure to shield them from the cold.
Kirrilee Ord, 21, her brother Mitchell, 12, and boyfriend Ben Warlond, 24, were hiking in the state park on Sunday when they became lost.
The trio were all wearing shorts and T-shirts and had taken only one packet of Twisties to share on what was planned to be a two-hour walk.
Kirri’s half-sister Chelsea Newby raised the alarm just after 4pm when they failed to return to their campsite.
Family members spent a harrowing and sleepless night around a campfire waiting for news as the trio huddled together with their American pit bull, Sasha, while temperatures plunged to about 6 degrees.
Search and rescue teams located the bushwalkers around 7.40am about five kilometres from their campsite. They were given food and water, before walking out of the bush with police.
They were reunited with family at their campsite just after 10am.
Kirri, an experienced camper, told reporters she had turned the Twisties packet inside out to its reflective side in an effort to signal helicopters.
When that failed to work she used her knowledge from Girl Guides and the Scouts to build a shelter from bark, rocks and reeds. They then huddled together to try and stay warm until help arrived.
“It was pretty cold but the dog kept us all warm,” she said. “We were all snuggled in pretty tight.”
The trio had been camping since Friday. With no battery power left on any of their mobile phones, they had planned to take one last short hike before leaving the area yesterday.
Kirri said she was looking forward to a long bath but the experience hadn’t turned her off camping in the future.
“Maybe just not hiking again,” she said.
Police search and rescue Leading Senior Constable Matt Roberts said the trio had done the right thing by staying in the one place once they became lost.
About 30 people from police and SES were involved in the overnight search.
