TEN DAYS IN NATURE

I am David Tamowski. Last year I went to Auckland, New Zealand, with my family. My wife’s parents live there. She flew directly to Auckland but I wanted to visit Queenstown for a hike in nature before meeting her and her family in Auckland. I had a decade of backpacking experience across the US, so I wasn’t scared of going alone.

I planned my route and rented a beacon to find my way back in case of an emergency. I bought a map and made my way to nature. I was on a bus to the trailhead and suddenly I noticed that I left the beacon in the station. I called my wife’s cousin to let them know where I was but no one picked up. Then I left a voicemail. I followed the track through the rainforest for the first two days. It was very hot. On the third day, it was foggy and I noticed that the trail was becoming fainter. I kept walking until the fog lifted. I sat up a camp and in the morning I realized that I lost the trail.

For the next five days, I continued walking and always hoped to see someone. I was tired and hungry. I was losing my hope. I slept in my tent that night with tears in my eyes. On day ten, I woke up and started to walk again but this time with less energy and hope. I was walking in a meadow when I heard a helicopter noise. I looked up and saw it. It flew over me twice but didn’t see me. I was very excited and started to wave. On the third pass, they saw me. This is how they saved me that day.