A father has described his eight-year-old son’s “bloody scary” night after going missing in a Southland bush while on a camping trip.

This comes after news that eight-year-old Charlie McLean and an 11-year-old girl were found around 10.30am on Sunday after they went missing from the Mavora Lakes campsite around 2.30pm on Saturday.

Charlie’s father, Brent McLean, said five kids went into the Southland bush to play while their parents were pitching tents and lighting a fire at the Department of Conservation campsite.

“The kids had gone into the bush just to play. Three of them came back and two of them wandered off and got disorientated.

 “They just got lost,” McLean told Stuff.

McLean said when the adults realised they were not returning, they panicked.

He had no sleep and spent his night as part of the 40-strong team which conducted the 20-hour search and rescue operation.

“They brought helicopters, fire trucks, communication trucks, police trucks - everyone was there.

 “This morning, they put the helicopter back in the air and ... they were found in a clearing in the thick bush just up the lake,” McLean said to Stuff. “It was a hell of a relief.”

The two children were reunited with their families after rescue teams located the kids in a forest clearing.

McLean said both of the missing children were in “remarkably” good spirits, despite it “bucketing down” at the campsite overnight.

“Charlie reckons he got three hours [of] sleep. They are very brave, I wish I was that brave. It would have been bloody scary,” he told Stuff.

After being found, Charlie told his father they never gave up hope.

‘Extremely lucky’ to have survived ‘horrendous weather’ overnight, rescuer says

Southern Lakes Helicopters director Sir Richard Hayes told the Otago Daily Times the children were “extremely lucky” to have survived overnight.

They had been out in “horrendous” weather which was stormy and close to snowing.

Southern Lakes Helicopters director Sir Richard Hayes says the two are extremely lucky to have survived in the horrendous weather overnight.

It was one of the more rapid responses he had experienced due to the urgency of the conditions and the young age of the children.

Earlier today, Southland District Mayor Rob Scott confirmed the children, an eight-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl, had been found by a search party.

“They are being helicoptered back to base and will then get checked out by a medical team,” Scott said.

The mayor said he was “elated and rapt” when police called him with the news.

“Full credit goes out to the team on the ground. They had the right people there - they would have been relentlessly looking.

“Everyone would’ve been hoping for this outcome… you kind of fear the worst but hope for the best, and so [I’m] so pleased they’ve been found.

“I bet there’s elation on the ground too,” said Scott.

Police were alerted around 5.15pm that the children had still not returned.

Southland Police area commander Mike Bowman said searchers located the children around 10am the next day in a clearing near the lake - around 1.5 kilometres from the campground.

“Police wish to thank everyone who was involved in the search overnight and this morning, including volunteers who travelled from around the southern region to join the search.”

After police were alerted yesterday afternoon, a search group spent the night looking for them in cold and rainy conditions. Another 30 people joined the search at first light today.

A helicopter was brought in to assist the search along with police personnel, search dogs and volunteers from Land Search and Rescue and Amateur Radio Emergency Communications.

‘A shock’

This morning, Scott said the news of the missing children came as a shock.

“I can only imagine the stress the family are under,” he said at the time. “It’s not a situation that anyone wants to find themselves in.”

The total search party was 45 people strong.

“There’s a real strong search and rescue team, they’ve got dogs and a helicopter up there and they’ll be having a good look, so fingers crossed.”

Scott said that in nearby Te Anau, there was light rain last night and temperatures of between 6-7C.

“So it’s not a freezing Southland winter’s day, but certainly not the warmest either.”