A Logan mum who spent the night lost in the Gold Coast hinterland has recounted the unique method she used to alert search and rescue crews to her location.
Olivia Godson spent almost 24 hours in Mount Tamborine National Park after she went bushwalking through Curtis Falls yesterday afternoon.
It’s understood she sent an SOS text message to her son, right before her phone died, after she became disoriented around sunset and could not find her way back.
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Friends, police and SES today scoured the bushland for the missing mum, who was without food.
When a friend got as close as 100 metres from Godson before turning around and searching another direction, Godson reverted to an old fashioned survival trick to gain the attention of search crews.
Godson was eventually spotted by a rescue helicopter after smoke from a fire she lit caught their eye.
“Last night I couldn’t get a fire going, this morning I couldn’t get a fire going, but when I heard the chopper it worked so I reckon that’s magic – rainforest magic,” she said.
“I honestly didn’t think I was coming out today,” she told media as she emerged from the national park.
“I was very grateful it wasn’t freezing like it has been. Thank god for the change in weather.”
A chocolate bar and a banana was an understated reward for the Logan mum, who said she was looking forward to her “own bed and a good feed”.
Godson’s rescue is the second on Mount Tamborine in 24 hours, after four climbers were winched to safety from a cliff face yesterday evening after their phone GPS set them on the wrong path.
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