Queenstown tourist paddles into trouble on $100 raft

A German backpacker who got ‘‘lucky in an unlucky situation’’ says she is not a stupid tourist.

German backpacker Marie Zessin, 20, had an adventure and a-half in a planned trip on Lake Wakatipu on Monday.

Her paddle broke, she got soaking wet, almost got hypothermia and later collapsed on the shore.

In between all that drama, she had time to take a few videos and selfies.

A volunteer firefighter and part-time model in northern Germany, she booked herself a night in a hut on Pigeon Island, near the top end of Lake Wakatipu.

The plan was to get in her small inflatable boat, paddle out to the island, spend the night there and then return the next day.

She packed her raft — bought for $100 on social media — picked up a lifejacket she found ‘‘hanging in the garage’’ and headed off.

About halfway to the island, one of her paddles broke.

‘‘I immediately put the other one away and tried paddling with my hands, and I was leaning over the front of the boat to catch the other one,’’ she said.

‘‘But the current was too strong and it just drifted away. So I tried to just use the one. That didn’t work. I had to kneel with the one paddle and that just made my boat start spinning, because the waves were pretty high as well.’’

She then tried a ‘‘butterfly-like swimming motion’’.

‘‘I was half on the boat, but my arms were, like, fully in the water. I was just a little panicky as well, because I wasn’t really moving forward the way I planned. And then, yeah, I took some videos as well, because I just wanted to organise my thoughts.’’

The adrenaline was flowing, but her firefighting experience helped keep her calm, she said.

After about an hour, and with the help of the current, she made it to shore.

‘‘I dragged my boat and my stuff on shore, and then I passed out pretty much immediately. I think it was just from the shock and everything was cold and wet as well. And I was just really out of breath.’’

She woke up, not knowing how long she had been unconscious.

‘‘I just knew I needed to act pretty quickly so that I didn’t get hypothermia or anything like that. I was wearing five layers, really heavy hiking boots as well, and I was fully soaked.’’

She managed to find her way to the Glenorchy road, wading through a waterway, which was up to her hips at times.

But she was a long way from her car. Fortune then favoured her as a passing motorist stopped, helped her retrieve her boat and took her back to her car.

Looking back, she said she did not allow herself to even think how bad her situation was.

‘‘I was just trying to stay rational and I was just telling myself even if nothing works, I’ll eventually just be swept on to shore.’’

‘‘My main focus was really just trying to keep the boat stable and not let any more water in.’’

It was getting late in the afternoon and light was running out.

‘‘I just tried to not think of what happens if I can’t get out of this situation. I was really just trying to stay focused on, you know, what’s my best possibility to get out of this.’’

‘‘I’m just really lucky that I was lucky in an unlucky situation kind of.

‘‘I don’t want to come across as, like, a stupid tourist. I did plan ahead. I had all the equipment I needed. I had a life vest.’’