A male tourist was safely rescued early Sunday morning after a six-hour search, having become lost during a mountain trek on Rarotonga.

The 38-year-old had been hiking near the Needle on Saturday afternoon but lost his way. He was able to make phone contact, prompting a search operation at 7.55pm.

According to police, a dedicated two-woman team, consisting of an off-duty police officer and a volunteer firefighter, helped in the search and rescue effort.

The pair began their trek up the mountain from the south side before 9pm, maintaining phone contact with the lost tourist when possible.

The team successfully located the tourist at 2.05am Sunday and assisted him down the waterfall side to safety.

The rescued tourist, Tobias Jochheim, expressed his gratitude to the emergency services who helped him during the ordeal.

“Many thanks to the resourceful, patient and friendly Emergency Services, especially the two Wahines who spent their Saturday night coming to rescue me,” Jochheim told Cook Islands News.  

“Through a series of unfortunate incidents, last but not least me losing my strong prescription glasses, it took long hours indeed.

“It goes without saying that I will learn from my mistakes, I sincerely hope others will learn from it as well.”

Meanwhile, the Police are reminding all hikers to exercise extra caution and be well-prepared when trekking in unfamiliar areas.

Police have been involved in several search and rescue operations involving trekkers doing the Cross Island Trek/Needle Walk in the past couple of years.

Police earlier stated that preventative advice and promotion of risks were clearly not working and the question of user-pays on the treks needed to be tabled.

However, Police cannot arbitrarily apply penalties, even if individuals have somehow failed to exercise caution and care.

In August last year, Cook Islands Tourism chief executive Karla Eggelton said they were open to discussing concerns raised and looking at a considered, sustainable approach to rescue operations.

Eggelton said that the Cook Islands Tourism had:

1. Put up a new cross island trek sign – at the beginning of the trek – outlining trekking safety messages.
2. Placed trekking safety adverts in our visitors guides and Escape magazine.
3. Delivered trekking safety posters to major properties.
4. Digitally – an online free industry tool kit with downloadable posters for all businesses to share with their customers/visitors.
5. And most recently (from 01 August) included information and QR codes on Arrival Cards for every passenger entering the Cook Islands.

But police said posters and awareness sometimes don’t get the desired results, “a bit like saying don't drink and drive”.

“People only learn by being penalised,” police spokesperson Trevor Pitt said.