SYDNEY, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A father and two sons who were lost in Australia's outback were found alive after an alert farmer discovered them stuck in a mud bog.
Steven Van Lonkhuyzen, 37, and his sons Ethan, 7, and Timothy, 5, drank rainwater and rationed the small amount of provisions they took for the Dec. 11 trip from Brisbane to Cairns to see friends.
Van Lonkhuyzen took a wrong turn during the trip and his four-wheel drive car got stuck in the mud Expedition National Park. As the temperatures reached near 100 degrees, the father and sons stayed near the vehicle and collected rainwater.
Police were readying to search by air as the rescue mission turned grim. Farmer Tom Wagner saw the local news reports about the missing family and took to his four-wheeler to search the nearby lands. He found the family's car stuck in a mud bog on the 100,000-acre park. Van Lonkhuyzen had a cell phone but the park was too remote for service.
"The little fellas were pretty happy to see me, the little boys hadn't eaten for seven days and the dad hadn't eaten for nearly 10 days," Wagner told The Courier Mail. "They were pretty hungry, they woofed into my biscuits and the sandwiches."
The boys were taken to a local hospital to be treated for dehydration.
