Lol: You survive 12 days in the Australian bush. Everyone thought you were dead...and your dad has a right go at you when you're found!

[TsarChasm]

Here

(I'd probably do the same btw, but I might wait a week or two)

[whomovedmychocolate]

"I'm glad you back, you -daft -twat"

Yes I can see how that conversation would go

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

Quite right too.

It will have cost loads to find him, people shouldn't be allowed out if they can 't prepare properly.

[edam]

He's got a point about his son being the only teenager in the world who isn't surgically attached to his mobile.

[TsarChasm]

Oh I agree! A king sized bollocking is the order of the day alright.

But it made me chuckle about his dad doing it straight away. (Chuckling in a nice way of course - his poor parents are obviously delighted.)

I'm imagining a Cpt Mainwaring 'You stupid boy...' conversation.

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

He forgot his phone apparently as it was charging.....

[Greensleeves]

what a lovely bloke

I'm so pleased for them.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

His mum was being quizzed on LBC today - she sounds lovely !!

[GrapefruitMoon]

Agree about preparing properly but can't help thinking it's not only about the mobile phone - they haven't been considered "essential" always and 20 years ago I managed to spend a considerable amount of time in the outback without getting lost for a week Anyone else think it odd that he was found very close to where he set off from?

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

I heard the news reader ask if it was a stunt...

[2shoes]

I just saw this on the news, bless his dad

[CHOOGIRL]

I'm glad he's safe, but wonder if it's just me who feels a bit about this story. He looked really well for someone who had spent 12 days in the outback.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

I heard on the radio this morning that he'd go up onto the cliffs to see where he was going, then have to go back under the trees, and because they were so dense, he would loose his way again. It was because of the trees and his blue coat that he couldn't be seen by the helicopters.

I particularly liked his father's line of "he's not going to South East Asia, he's cocked this one up enough" or words to that effect...

"When i get him home, well, I won't kill him, that would defeat the point of finding him again, but..."

Lovely story.

[PeggyGuggenheim]

Yes lovely. I wonder whether Max Clifford is on the phone to him yet...maybe he could get a reflected glory sort of fame, like Boris's dad did...

[Loshad]

great story, the dad was fab, really down to earth chap.

[AppleandMosesMummy]

I bet he was relieved though, I'd be distraught.

[poorbuthappy]

Glad he's alive etc etc, but as dh said, he wasn't important enough for them to tell us that he have gone missing in the first place!

Or did we not watch / listen to the news for the past 2 weeks... tis possible I suppose...

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

I knew someone was missing but it wasn't headline news or mentioned daily.

[london0hull4]

I thought the dad came across as a really lovely bloke. As for not hearing about the son going missing, I definitely heard it a number of times on the news over the past couple of weeks.

[scottishmummy]

thought father came over as empathic and caring.natural reaction to vent and expel all the pent up fears

[eidsvold]

we certainly knew here in Aus he was missing and he is not the only one.

The thing you often find is backpackers lob into Aus on a big adventure and take risks that they would not normally take back in the UK. They then come unstuck - things like - hey I have never driven a 4wheel drive let alone driven one on a beach but lets get a mob of backpackers together and drive up a beach which has a lot of changing conditions - cue accident - tragic accident in some cases. I know - lets buy a cheap car and attempt to drive from one end of Australia to another.

I have seen and heard them in action. It is actually scary to see how mad some of them are in terms of risks etc.

[NormaSknockers]

I think the Dad is fab, clearly very relieved but very down to Earth too - made me

[bran]

I think Europeans don't understand the scale of Oz eidsvold. I certainly didn't before I actually went there. When you fly over the centre it feels like the plane isn't moving because it looks the same for hours. The train from Perth to Adelaide made my mind boggle with days of emptiness.

It's like the difference between people telling you that your life will change after children and actually experiencing the difference. When people say that Australia is big and dangerous it's hard to really understand until you're there.

[Hulababy]

Good on dad

He sounded very down to eart, clearly relieved to have his son safe and well, but sensible enough to vent too. Considering the money spent on the rescue efforts, etc. I don't blame dad.

[Ozziegirly]

Also I think people see the Blue Mountains as a bit like the New Forest - they're pretty close to Sydney and you can easily do nice little day trips. It's not like heading into the Amazon rainforest.

But actually, the Blue Mountains cover a HUGE area, are very densely packed, full of massive gorges and scary drops and the paths are not always easy to follow.

Also, although there are lots of people around the main tourist areas, as soon as you head even slightly away from that, you barely see a soul. DH and I did a long hike there from a pretty major dropping off area and didn't see a single person all day.

So I can see how someone would set out thinking that it's no big deal and end up lost for that long.

Thank goodness he has been found, I really didn't think he would be. At least it's winter as there would be rain to drink and lots of plants around to nibble on.