A mum and her twin daughters have been found in the Great Otway National Park

A Brunswick mum and her twin teenage daughters were found in the Great Otway National Park after the trio became lost in dense forest on Saturday afternoon.

A woman and her twin daughters are missing in the Great Otway National Park . Picture: File

A family lost in the Great Otway National Park slept on a makeshift bed of ferns and had to jump around to keep warm after losing their way in the bush on the longest night of the year.

Deirdre Gartland, her 16-year-old twin daughters, Eliza and Rebecca, and their dog, Buddy, became lost on a walk from their holiday hut off Killala Rd in Apollo Bay.

The trio, from Brunswick, set off about 10am on Saturday but within hours realised they were lost and called Ms Gartland’s mother, Geraldine.

They lost the telephone signal, however, and, as darkness fell, were forced to huddle together on a bed of ferns.

The trio could see a search helicopter overhead, which Ms Gartland’s husband, Greg Aronson, said “was reassuring”.

They were found about 9.30am yesterday when Ms Gartland emerged in a clearing just as her brother, Tim, shouted “cooee” from a roadside about 1km away.

“They spotted each other. It is so amazing,” Mr Aronson said. “It was a very sleepless night for us. We’d hoped that they were going to be found.

“The SES and police were out until about 1am and we were getting constant updates, but the longer it went on the more we worried.”

The trio emerged with no injuries other than blackberry scratches.

“They shivered all night and didn’t really sleep because they had to keep getting up to jump around to keep warm,” Mr Aronson said.

“Buddy kept them warm and they kept Buddy warm.”

Mr Aronson said he was grateful to the police and CFA searchers.

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