A young Queenstown man sparked a police and coastguard search and rescue operation early yesterday after he fell over a cliff, recovered and reported he had heard someone cry for help among dense vegetation above Sunshine Bay.
The 20-year-old man was one of more than 100 revellers who partied on the beach of a nearby inlet on Monday night, but as he walked up the track to return home in the early hours of yesterday morning, he fell down a cliff, Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said.
The man told police he woke up and spent three hours climbing the bank to reach the Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd. A passing police patrol found the man on the road yesterday at 8.15am and raised the alarm when the man said he heard the voice of someone in trouble.
A St John ambulance Queenstown was called out just after 8.20am and took the man to the Lakes District Hospital for assessment.
The man was still suffering from the effects of intoxication and of the fall. He had what St John Queenstown team manager Alana Reid said were abdominal injuries.
He was flown to Southland Hospital in Invercargill in the Lakes District Air Rescue Trust helicopter at 11am, where he remained in a stable condition.
Police searched on foot and and Coastguard Queenstown by boat using a thermal sensor for two hours before being stood down and replaced by Wakatipu LandSAR.
The land search ended yesterday about 2.30pm and no-one else was found.
Sgt Watt said it was possible the man hit his head during his fall and mistakenly heard someone in trouble, or if there was someone crying for help, they had managed to make it back up to the road.
Several women helping with the beach clean-up yesterday morning, who did not wish to be named, estimated between 100 to 150 people were on the beach for the "full moon party".
They said the party ran from about 9pm until about 3am. A DJ played on decks and a sound system was dropped at the inlet by boat and powered by a generator.
One of them said the crowd was well behaved and the search and rescue was the only resulting incident.
"Everyone was just having a good-vibe party and were really happy. There were no other problems."
Sgt Watt said there were no further incidents, as far as police were aware, and partygoers had also cleaned up empty bottles and rubbish.
