Australian tourist winched to safety in NZ

Australian tourist winched to safety in NZ

An Australian woman and her Croatian travelling partner have been plucked to safety after being found clinging to rocks in the ocean off New Zealand.

The tourists, who suffered hypothermia before the night helicopter rescue, became stranded on a rocky island in Golden Bay, at the top of the South Island, as bad weather rolled in.

The 30-year-old Australian and 28-year-old Croatian man got into difficulty while swimming on Wednesday afternoon and managed to make it to the island.

They were trapped by the incoming tide, strong currents and stormy weather.

Difficult conditions meant civilian helicopters couldn’t help, but a Defence Force helicopter winched the tourists to safety around 9pm from rocks about 20 metres up a cliff.

The pair were taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia.

Sergeant Malcolm York said the tourists were lucky to be alive.

“If the rescue effort last night had not been successful we could well be dealing with a tragic loss of life,” he said.

It comes a fortnight after two other tourists were winched to safety after becoming stranded at the same spot when they were caught out by a rising tide.

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