December 20, 2019
A 21-year-old man was saved from a precarious position at Spirits Bay in a brave night time rescue.
The man from Auckland was on his first day of a Northland road trip when he decided to climb a rock face at Spirits Bay, 90km north of Kaitaia and between Cape Reinga and North Cape, and became trapped on a small ledge about 40metres above the beach and 15metres from the summit.
The alarm was raised about 9pm yesterday and the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter stopped in Whangārei to collect three members of the cliff rescue team who are part of the Northland LandSAR team before flying to the Far North location.
The helicopter was unable to land at the cliff site due to the terrain and so the rescue trio were dropped on the narrow strip of cliff.
Together the specialist rescuers were able to successfully bring the trapped climber safely to the summit before he was flown to the campground at Spirits Bay and he rejoined his travelling companions.
