• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Family spends Christmas night in forest after GPS blunder

Home> News

Updated 15:37 31 Dec 2022 GMTPublished 15:26 31 Dec 2022 GMT

Family spends Christmas night in forest after GPS blunder

They had a Christmas to remember... but not in the way they'd planned.

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

A family ended up spending Christmas night in a forest after a GPS balls-up.

As you probably know, Christmas is very different in Australia. They don't have snow, jumpers and roasts, they have sun, thongs and barbecues.

As such, Karma Norman and Barry Lovell decided they'd spend the big day taking their three kids to a swimming spot in the Mount Boss State Forest's Cobrabald recreation area, west of Port Macquarie, in New South Wales.

Advert

You can only access it via an unsealed road, but the day seemed to be going to plan - until they embarked on their trip home and took a wrong turn, which left them well and truly off the beaten track.

"On the way back, we put in, 'Home' and followed the GPS and it said, 'Turn here' and I did, and kept going and got stuck," Barry told ABC News.

They tried to press on and access a different road they knew, but things went from bad to worse, as the road ahead was overgrown and they couldn't make it back up the hill they had come down.

They got well lost.
Karma Norman

Then, things went from worse to worse than worse, as the clutch on their 4WD gave way.

Advert

The family had only planned on spending the day in the bush and had packed limited supplies, so as you can imagine, panic began to set in.

Karma said: "I have never been in a situation before where we were stuck … digging ourselves out, pulling logs out of the way and then getting to a spot where we just couldn't get past it.

"It was getting dark, and we were very tired and just wanted to go home at that point.

"That was the most challenging part … being stuck out in the bush with a car that was not 100 percent functional was my nightmare.

"It was a bit daunting, looking at spending the night in bush, especially with the kids and only water and stuff to drink."

Advert

Karma doubled back on a difficult track until she got some signal, and she reached out for help on social media.

A 'huge overflow' of responses made it clear they had wound up in a tricky spot, and so Karma phoned the police.

Officers said they wouldn't be able to reach them that night, so they had to stay put in their car; however, some local 4WD enthusiasts came to their aid.

"It led to a couple of gentlemen actually finding us about midnight and bringing us some food and more water," Karma said.

"They were absolute godsends. When I saw their torch lights coming, I thought 'Wow' … it was just amazing. It was dark, so it was deemed safest for us to just stay put with the car at that point."

Advert

They certainly had a Christmas to remember.
Karma Norman

The next morning the men returned and led them to a spot where police could collect them.

"We had to walk down the road and across the creek and up to where the police car was waiting to take me and the kids home," Karma said.

"It was such a relief to know that our part of the ordeal was pretty much over.

"It could have been a whole lot worse … if we had not been able to get signal, I don't know what we would have done."

Advert

But as they say, all's well that ends well, and the family will always remember Christmas 2022.

"We will definitely have stories to tell for many Christmases to come," Barry said.

"It puts a whole new meaning on a quick trip down to the waterhole for a swim."

Featured Image Credit: Karma Norman

Topics: News, Christmas, Australia

Jake Massey
Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

X

@jakesmassey

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

23 mins ago
an hour ago
3 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • 23 mins ago

    Doctor shares urgent bowel cancer warning over protein powder ‘gym diet'

    Consultant colorectal surgeon Dr James Kinross has issued a bowel cancer warning to people who consume a diet high in protein

    News
  • an hour ago

    Brit dad eerily booked into seat 11A narrowly escaped disaster on doomed Air India flight

    Essex dad Owen Jackson was initially scheduled to fly back on the doomed Air India flight

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Man completely unaware he was filming first waves of tragic tsunami that went on to kill 220,000 people

    A British holidaymaker captured the first waves of the tragic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on video

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    New footage shows moment only survivor of Air India crash walks away from burning wreckage

    British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is the only survivor of the 242 on board

    News
  • Family left in shock after being charged £618 for two hotdogs at Christmas market
  • Warning issued after woman woke up to message from HR day after work Christmas party
  • People can't believe 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' is still being played in 2024 after seeing lyrics
  • Man, 25, dies from injuries after car crashed into pedestrians on Christmas Day