Two snail hunters rescued after becoming bogged in remote far north Qld

Two avid snail enthusiasts on a journey to spot a rare breed spent two days stranded in the outback - with one stroke of foresight saving their lives.

Laura police Sen-Constable Adam Frew located two men who became bogged during a snail-hunting expedition west of Lakeland. Picture: Supplied

Two men on a snail hunting expedition in remote Far North Queensland have been rescued in “good spirits" after becoming bogged in a muddy creek.

The pair, aged 60 and 72, set off on Monday morning to hunt for a rare species that only emerges during the wet season on remote Palmerville Station, five hours northwest of Cairns.

But just a few hours into the journey their four-wheel drive became stuck in thick mud.

One of the men told his daughter they would be out overnight to find the animals, but when the pair failed to return by Wednesday, the daughter reported them missing to Laura Senior Constable Adam Frew.

The two men had gone looking for a rare snail species when they became bogged. Picture: Supplied

“The good thing about it though is that the father had told her exactly where they’d be and had given her the coordinates,” he told NCA NewsWire.

“So I basically knew exactly where to go … It’s rough terrain, so I was checking all the gullies to make sure they hadn’t gone down (into any gullies).

“About 80kms in, I came over a crest to go down into a gully and saw their vehicle … Their tent pitched beside it.

“That’s two and a half hours there to find them, then tow their vehicle out of the creek and get it going and then another two and a half hours back.”

While the pair didn’t make it to the snails, they had the foresight to pack enough food and water for five days, however Sen-Constable Frew said they’d been lucky not to become cut off by swollen waterways.

“They were in good spirits when I found them … A bit hot and sick of the march flies,” he said.

“But they were prepared … All credit to them.”

Senior-Constable Frew’s advice to anyone setting out on a journey through remote parts of the state is to plan ahead, tell someone “exactly where you’re going”, take enough food and water and if you do run into trouble, stay with the vehicle