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Cell Phone Saves Desert-Wandering Romanian

January 23, 2009 at 12:31 PM | by amandak | 2 Comments

That great Australian outback has nearly fooled another tourist. A Romanian guy set out on a long hike from Yulara, near Uluru, and ended up lost in the desert.

He called himself an experienced hiker but only took a gallon of water for a 28-mile hike in temperatures well over 100 degrees. Without food or even water from the third day of his blind wanderings, he was extremely lucky to stumble into a rare outback zone of cell phone coverage and he called his family back in Romania.

His folks got onto the Australian police, who searched for him by helicopter. He’d survived six days in the outback before he was found, but police say in the last few years there have been three other hikers who haven’t been found.

Need we say it again? Take water and be prepared. We don’t want the Aussie Outback to be the last you see of the world.

Related Stories:
· Tourist Rescued From Outback After Calling Family in Romania [The Age]
· Getting Out To The Aussie Outback [Jaunted]
· Won’t Get Fooled Again [Jaunted]

[Photo: Paleontour]

2 Comments

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  1. Victor Ozols

    Jaunted Editor

    Rare Outback Zone

    Let's pause for a moment to contemplate this "rare outback zone of cell phone coverage." How does that happen? In the middle of the desert, he finds a place where his phone gets a signal - a strong enough signal to call Romania? How would an isolated spot in the outback, presumable nowhere near a cell tower, get coverage? Can anybody explain this?
    January 23, 2009 at 4:31 PM
    #Permalink

  1. amandak

    Jaunted Member

    cell phone coverage

    ... actually, the deal is that the cell phone zone covers to around 20km every direction from the town of Yulara, and this guy was eventually found 22km away from Yulara (where he started). So he was a bit lucky to wander far enough back towards town to pick it up. Don't know how cell coverage works elsewhere but here in Oz, once you've got it, doesn't matter how far you want to call ...
    January 23, 2009 at 11:41 PM
    #Permalink

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