Overview

• The Sprigg family spearheaded a three-day retrieval mission from July 28 to 30 to recover the van from the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve.
• Volunteers traversed overgrown, 32-kilometre bush tracks and cleared storm-fallen trees using a loader, light vehicles and bikes.
• The loader suffered a tyre puncture from debris during the mission, underscoring the operation’s mechanical and logistical challenges.
• The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions publicly thanked the volunteer bushfire brigade for preventing environmental litter in the reserve.
• Friends of backpacker Carolina Wilga are expected to collect the recovered Mitsubishi camper van for subsequent transport.