A 53-year-old man is lucky to be alive after he fell as far as 45m down a cliff face in Northland and was stranded for more than five hours over the weekend.
Police received a call from the man at around 9.42pm on Saturday reporting that he had fallen near Butterfly Bay, around 30km northwest of Kerikeri.
Detective Sergeant Ryan Cooper said initially poor cell phone coverage made it difficult to pinpoint the man's location, with long periods of no communication with the man.
"From the first phone call we believed the man had fallen approximately 30-45 metres down the cliff face, making it a threat to life."
A police officer and police Search and Rescue (SAR) teams coordinated from above and below the cliff face.
Cooper said a SAR member managed to communicate with the man via an officer positioned part way over the precipice.
"This was very difficult to do as to be able to locate him our officer had to saddle the side of the cliff."
The Northern Emergency Services Trust deployed its helicopter to the area but was unsuccessful in reaching the man due to the steep terrain and strong winds.
"Unfortunately, this was not known at the time of deployment, as we were not certain of his exact location initially," Cooper said.
"Once we located him were we able to deploy a ropes team to the scene."
The man was eventually winched to safety at 2.36am.
Cooper said he was "extremely shaken up" but, miraculously, hadn’t suffered any injuries, aside from a few scrapes and bruises.
"The man was very appreciative of his rescue and was reunited with his son back at a nearby campground."
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