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A Melbourne woman has survived five days stuck alone in Victoria’s High Country on a single bottle of wine and lollies – even though she is a teetotaller.
Lillian Ip, from Cheltenham in Melbourne’s south-east, went on holiday to Bright in the state’s north-east and got lost down a dead-end track in dense bushland last Sunday when she tried to visit Dartmouth Dam.
When she turned the car around, the 48-year-old got bogged and didn’t have phone reception. Health issues meant she also wasn’t able to walk out of the bush to get help.
Her family notified authorities she was missing after she failed to check in with them.
Emergency services spent the past week searching for her across the region between Bright, Mitta Mitta and Wodonga and Albury, but found no trace.
But on Friday, the police’s air wing spotted her car on Yankee Point Track in the bush, about 40 kilometres from Mitta Mitta, and then officers on the ground rescued her.
Lillian Ip was found with her bogged car near Dartmouth Dam after spending five days missing in Victoria’s High Country.Credit: Facebook
“She was only planning a short day trip so had only taken a couple of snacks and lollies with her but no water,” said Sergeant Martin Torpey from Wodonga police.
“The only liquid Lillian, who doesn’t drink, had with her was a bottle of wine she had bought as a gift for her mother, so that got her through.”
Ip was treated for dehydration and taken to hospital for observation, but she was otherwise well, even despite enduring freezing conditions during her nights alone.
Bureau of Meteorology observations show temperatures at the nearby Dartmouth Reservoir dropped to as little as 2 degrees on Thursday.
“She used great common sense to stay with her car and not wander off into bushland, which assisted in police being able to find her,” Torpey said.
“While she couldn’t move her car, she was able to use the heater overnight give her some warmth.
“After being lost in the bush for five days, she was extremely relieved and grateful to see us, and we were just as happy to see her.”
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