Japanese tourists blame satnav after being stranded in Australian mangrove swamp at high tide
Sat nav failed to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud between the tourists and their destination
Car had to be abandoned as the tide came in
Three Japanese tourists holidaying in Australia came unstuck when their satnav told them they could drive from the mainland to an island – failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.
As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay in Queensland to nearby North Stradbroke Island they started to notice the firm gravel surface they were driving on giving way to the renowned bay mangrove mud.
However, confident their satnav would direct them to a road soon, they decided to plough on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their Hyundai Getz was up to its axles in mud.
Oops!: As the tied started to come in, the Japanese tourists had to abandon their hired car, retrieving some of their valuables first
To make matters worse the tide started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle.
Just four hours later the car was stranded in two metres of water – to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.
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Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and ‘it told us we could drive down there.
‘It kept saying it would navigate us to a road. We got stuck…there’s lots of mud.’
Difficult driving conditions: The tide comes up so high that soon ferries start to pass by the abandoned car
Sight for sore eyes: Passengers on passing boats and ferries were amused when they saw a little stranded Hyundai in the ocean
She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to ditch their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast courtesy of a lift from the RACQ tow truck driver who was called to the stranded car.
No such luck for the hired car though – after assessing the situation no attempt was made to recover it.
A four wheel drive owner who saw the incident had considered winching out the car, but abandoned any attempt due to the speed of the oncoming tide.
Plan B: The tourists had to abandon their car and day trip plans when their vehicle became bogged down in mangrove mud
The students from Tokyo who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit.
'We want to come back to Australia again. Everyone is very nice, even today,' Ms Yuzu said.
Remaining upbeat, Mr Tomonari joked that the car may have got stuck because it was built in Korea. ‘Maybe if it was Japanese it would be okay,’ he said.
Scuppered: The three tourists had to rethink their day trip plans, but are keen to return to Australia for another visit
He added: ‘It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back it will be sunny.’
The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up about $1500 in excess charges.
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