Bumbling Brit's second Outback SOS in a week By Nick Squires in Sydney (Filed: 14/09/2006)

A British tourist has shocked Australians by twice getting lost in the Outback in the same place, in the same circumstances, in a bungle which nearly cost him his life.

Martin Lake, 50, "the bumbling Brit", first went missing last week when he strayed from a well-worn path at a historical telegraph station on the outskirts of Alice Springs.

Wearing only shorts and a T-shirt and carrying three litres of water, he spent three days lost in the wilderness, despite being only a few miles from the edge of town. advertisement

He made a desperate call to police on his mobile phone, starting a huge search involving officers on foot, three helicopters, Aboriginal trackers and rangers.

When Mr Lake was found in the desert on Sept 5 he was badly dehydrated and so burnt from the 86F (30C) heat that he looked like "a freshly-cooked lobster".

Police said he was less than three miles from the town and almost within shouting distance of outlying houses.

He was flown to hospital, but not content with having survived one near-death experience, he returned to the area on Friday, apparently to recover belongings. Again he struck out into the desert and became disorientated in a landscape of baking red rock and parched scrub that looks very much the same in every direction.

He made another panicked call to police but was unable to tell them where he was. After a while his phone went dead.

He had, for a second time, broken the cardinal rules of Outback survival — he had no hat or sunscreen, not enough water and had failed to tell anyone where he was going.

"He told me he was somewhere north of Alice Springs and that's about it," said Sgt Graeme Farquharson, the search co-ordinator. "He didn't have a clue where he was."

Mr Lake, a divorcee and former trainee policeman, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, was found by a helicopter crew on Tuesday after spending another four nights in the bush. Again, he was only three miles from Alice Springs.

Northern Territory police, who were surprised that he did not call earlier, said he was in Alice Springs hospital where he was being "assessed" both physically and mentally.

"Because of his condition we haven't had an opportunity to drill down to the nitty-gritty of his circumstances," said Supt Richard Bryson. "But in a general sense it's been proposed that he'd lost something on the first occasion and he'd taken it upon himself to go back to locate it."

Officers said Mr Lake was lucky to have survived the first ordeal, let alone the second. He was the talk of Alice Springs, with locals calling him "a silly Pommy bastard."

Dave Hunt, the manager of the Memorial Club, where Mr Lake enjoyed a few beers before his mishaps, said: "The first time, everyone was thinking 'poor bugger'. But the second time we were thinking, he must have something wrong in his head — why would he go back?

"You'd have thought he'd have said to himself, 'Jesus, that's one place I'm going to stay away from'."

Rangers said the Old Telegraph Station, where Mr Lake went missing, is a popular tourist attraction with clear trails where visitors rarely lose their bearings.

"Getting lost is one thing, but to do it a second time — I've never heard of that and I've lived here all my life," said Edwin Edlund, of the Parks and Wildlife Commission.

Submitted on 09/13/2006

Submitted by: John H
Reference: UK Daily Telegraph - Sept 14

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
A much better article about the fool who got lost in the outback! I found the additional detail and tone of the article enough for me to change my mind and give this one the neutral nod! Thanks, John!

Fitzroy said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Hrm. I'm -just- barely moved enough by this to reconsider. The fact that the phone died before rescuers could get close makes a big difference. Also, the reaction of the locals somehow helps me to see the potential for humor here. Given that it is just an Honorable Mention, I'll let myself be swayed here.

Sheryl said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Thanks for the story, John. Well, that reporter has talent. I mentioned in one of the other submissions that cell phones are notoriously unreliable in the outback. To go into the outback without adequate provisions once is bad enough, to do it twice is bordering to sheer stupidity.

Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat

Graham said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Seems that some folks are just determined to have their genes marked for removal! The Aussie 'Outback' of all places! We'll watch this guy with interest.

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