One can often get misdirected by Google Maps, but two German tourists following Google Maps had to pay a heavy price after they got stranded in the middle of the Australian wilderness. Philipp Maier and Marcel Schoene were travelling from Cairns to Bamaga in Queensland when Google Maps directed them to follow a remote dirt track. This led them inside a national park that was closed to the public. As per 9News, they soon found themselves stuck after their car got stuck into the mud after driving 37 miles or 59.5 kilometres into the dirt road.
With no phone reception and limited supplies, Philipp and Marcel ditched their car and decided to walk. The tourists survived extreme weather conditions such as thunderstorms and blistering heat for a week before they reached the small rural town of Coen. According to Philipp, at some point during their week-long ordeal, they also crossed a crocodile-infested river.
While talking to 9News, Philipp recalled their journey and said, “I feel like I was in a movie, like in a bad movie, but it had a happy ending. We tried to build a shelter. But that didn’t work really well. So we slept under the sky. It was raining the whole time, but it was okay.”
At Coen, rangers helped retrieve their car. Rangers told media that this is not the first instance where tourists have been led astray in the area because of Google Maps. A Google spokesperson said the company was glad the men were safe and assured they were investigating why and how they were misdirected.
In January this year, a similar incident took place in Gudalur, a hill town in Tamil Nadu, after an SUV driver ended up on a steep flight of stairs in a residential area. The SUV driver relied on Google Maps for directions while going back to Karnataka after spending the weekend in Gudalur with his friends. As he followed the Google Map instructions, he found himself stuck on a steep staircase route. Instead of proceeding ahead, the man halted his SUV and sought help from the locals. Fortunately, the locals and police personnel helped the man to manoeuvre his SUV back to the main road without any mishap.
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