A 48-year-old woman survived five days stranded in the Australian bush by drinking a bottle of wine and eating sweets.
Lillian Ip became stuck in deep bushland in Mitta Mitta, in northeastern Victoria, on April 30 after taking a wrong turn during a road trip to Lake Dartmouth.
Ms Ip, who is teetotal, spent five days in the bush before being discovered by an air police search team.
She told 9News Australia: “The first thing coming in my mind, I was thinking ‘water and a cigarette.’
“Thank god the policewoman had a cigarette.
“I thought I was going to die there. My whole body shut down on Friday.”
After four days stranded in the wilderness, Ms Ip wrote a final letter to her family to say goodbye.
“If you don't find by this time I could be dead by frozen cold,” it read.
“I love you all. Don’t cry for me.”
Ms Ip was unable to walk to the nearest town due to health issues so stayed with her car, police said.
Aerial footage shows her frantically waving at a police helicopter from a dirt track, dressed in a large checkered coat.
Despite being allergic to alcohol, Ms Ip was forced to drink the bottle of wine she had bought as a gift for her mother, along with a box of juice and a lollipops.
She is now safely back at her home in Melbourne after being taken to hospital for treatment for dehydration.
Wodonga Police Station Sergeant Martin Torpey said: “The only liquid Lillian, who doesn't drink, had with her was a bottle of wine she had bought as a gift for her mother so that got her through.
“She used great common sense to stay with her car and not wander off into bushland, which assisted in police being able to find her.
“While she couldn’t move her car, she was able to use the heater overnight [to] give her some warmth.
“After being lost in the bush for five days, she was extremely relieved and grateful to see us, and we were just as happy to see her.”
