Cocklebiddy: Travellers bogged in remote Nullarbor location for four days ‘rationed beer’ before police rescue

A South Australian couple who rationed their beer while stranded in a remote part of the Nullarbor for four nights says they celebrated the sight of police with a “big kiss” after they activated an emergency beacon. Carl and Rose Jakeway’s Ford Ranger utility became stuck on a remote track about 20km south-southwest of Cocklebiddy, between Caiguna and Eucla last week. The pair remained with their vehicle before they activated a personal locator beacon on their third day stranded after their car jack broke. About 10:50am on Friday, Eucla police, with assistance from Norseman police, responded to the signal, but due to heavy rain, officers were unable to reach the pair. On Saturday morning, the Police air wing was deployed and found the travellers. Mrs Jakeway said she initially “couldn’t get out” of the car when it became submerged in mud. “We still at least had 48 hours worth of tucker, water we did talk about rationing,” Mr Jakeway, 56, told 7NEWS. “Initially, we did have to ration the beer, but then we started talking about the water.” Mr Jakeway said that once the beacon was activated, their son was alerted to their situation. “He gave them as much detail as he had... which helped them do a bit of a risk assessment, understand where we were, what was likely to be wrong,” Mr Jakeway said. When police arrived on Saturday, the pair were both “pretty elated”. “(we shared) a big hug and a kiss together, I suppose was the first thing we’d done,” Mr Jakeway said. Vision from the air wing showed the bogged vehicle was recovered using a snatch strap. In a radio recording between Mr Jakeway and a Police air wing officer, he said: “We’ve been here for four days now, pretty well bogged, starting to get low on supplies.” “We’ve still got 24 to 48 hours (worth of supplies) on us.” “But the (tyre) jack is broken, and we’re sort of in the middle of the scrub.” Goldfields-Esperance Police Insp. Mick Kelly confirmed they were uninjured and in good health. Insp. Kelly said the pair were well-seasoned travellers who travelled with sufficient food supplies, a UHF radio, and a personal locator beacon. “WA police rely on the goodwill of the community for their own knowledge of the tracks and the terrain out there,” he said. He urged remote travellers to ensure they carried emergency communication equipment, adequate food and water supplies, checked weather and road reports, and remained with their vehicle if they became bogged. “The key message from this rescue is that the occupants stayed with their vehicle, and they had sufficient resources and food to remain there for several days,” Insp. Kelly said. Mrs Jakeway said “friendly banter” kept their spirits up during the ordeal. “(In) the back of our minds, we knew we had that EPIRB,” she said. The grandparents were travelling to Busselton from South Australia for a family holiday when they became bogged and have since met with their loved ones.