A courier driver spotted the trampers signalling for help from across the swollen Haast River at Fantail Falls, just north of the Haast Pass summit, and contacted Wanaka police.
A police search and rescue co-ordinator and three members of LandSAR Wanaka's river rescue team went to assist the trampers.
''Knowing they were there we felt we should go and pick them up. We didn't want them to do anything stupid like try to swim across the river,'' LandSAR volunteer Roy Bailey said.
The trampers - a male and a female in their mid-to-late-20s - were already a day behind schedule, after waiting out Sunday night's storm at Brewster Hut.
Heavy rain raised the river considerably since the pair crossed it in only knee-deep water when setting out on their tramp.
Mr Bailey and another volunteer rafted across the river to collect the trampers, returning them safely to their vehicle in a car park off State Highway 6.
They had been fortunate the courier driver had noticed them, Mr Bailey said, as Haast Pass was closed to all other traffic yesterday because of the Diana Falls slip.
