Where the bloody hell are we?

A WRONG turn on a road trip to Melbourne allowed a Chinese tourist to witness the rare phenomenon of floods in the Red Centre

Chinese tourists stranded in a normally dry river bed on the road to Santa Teresa. PIC: SUPPLIED

A WRONG turn on a roadtrip to Melbourne allowed a Chinese tourist to witness the rare phenomenon of rain in the Red Centre – as his troopy drifted 30m downstream in floodwaters.

The 44-year-old man found himself stranded down the bush track to a remote outstation, 15km from the community of Santa Teresa, on Monday afternoon.

According to NT Police, the man had driven his hire car along the access road believing it was an ulterior route to the Victorian capital.

A widespread downpour across Central Australia had created a turgid torrent in a normally dry creek bed, and during an attempted crossing, the man found himself bogged.

Senior Sergeant Michael Potts said the tourist had managed to scramble to the creek’s embankment before his troopy was pulled downstream.

“He probably would’ve been extremely upset at the fact that the car he was in got washed off the crossing to start with, and he had to make his way to the embankment and couldn’t retrieve the vehicle,” Sen-Sgt Potts said.

The tourist hardly spoke a word of English, so communication with police was undertaken with a translation app on the police iPad. “He knew there was rain in the area, but he didn’t know the extent of rain or potential floodwaters in the area,” Sen-Sgt Potts said.

The traveller was not the only tourist left trapped in Central Australia by recent floods.

Glen Helen Homestead owner Sheila O’Brien said there had been a “few adventures” attempting to holiday in the drenched conditions, left stranded and fretting disruptions to their bookings.

The homestead, 130km southwest of Alice Springs, recorded 98mm yesterday morning, with predictions rain would continue for another four days. “We desperately hope we don’t get too much more,” she said.

NT Emergency Services’ southern manager Clare Barker said while seeing the river run in the Red Centre was a memorable sight, it had its dangers. “Watch it from a safe distance and take a picture,” Ms Barker said.