Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
The family of missing tramper Graham Garnett say they did not know if they would see him alive again, after he took a wrong turn and spent three weeks lost in the bush.
The 66-year-old, was found sheltering in a hut in Kahurangi National Park on Sunday afternoon, nineteen days after he was reported overdue.
He had gone tramping in the Baton/Ellis River area of the national park and was expected to return on December 30, but failed to do so.
Police Search and Rescue Sergeant Jonny Evans said Garnett was "extremely lucky to be alive".
Evans said Garnett had been disoriented by heavy cloud, with weather conditions closing in when he took a wrong turn in late December that sent him deep into the national park in north west Nelson.
"Graham had been on the move much of the time, and had sustained injuries along the way.
"He had tried to get himself out numerous ways, by following streams and ridges and finally finding the Karamea River, which he recognised, and which led him back to Venus Hut."
He was found on Sunda
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