SES, emergency services guide caravan of camels through tricky bush near Poatina

During his trek around Australia with five camels, John Arthur Elliott reached a section of the track near Palmers Rivulet between Poatina and Blackwood Creek which seemed impassable, so he called for assistance on Monday with no way to go backwards or forwards.

It started an hours-long effort from the SES, TFS and Tasmania Police to bring John and his caravan of camels to safety.

Deputy unit manager for Northern SES search and rescue, Anne Farley, said they had to quickly become accustomed to both the surroundings, and the behaviour of camels.

"He gave us a quick crash course in cameleering and how we could assist him in getting them back up the track," she said.

"We got them as far as we could until there was a creek, where we got three of them across easily, but the other two weren't too happy about it.

"We had to use some roping skills to stop the camels from retreating away. We took the load off them, covered the creek with branches, muffled the sound of the water and one of them went across.

"Luckily, when the last one saw his mates on the other side, he went across too without too much difficulty."

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They continued up the track until they reached the road, and then assisted John and his camels into Poatina village. They reached the area at 10pm, when people from Capstone College came to offer some food and shelter for the night.

Ms Farley said it was one of the most unique rescues she'd been involved with.

"It's the first came rescue I've done," she said.

"For us, we're always there for a challenge and this certainly was a new and unexpected one. The camels were actually really nice, they just did their job, and obviously we had to work with what issues they presented, like their concern at the water.

"We actually found them quite easy to handle, they just needed a little bit of encouragement and generally they did what they always do: they follow."

In a Facebook post, John Arthur Elliott thanked the crews who came to his aid, and said that without them he was unsure how he would have handled the situation.

"Thanks so much to the men and women who made this all happen," he wrote.

"Gotta love Australia and it's community spirit, really restores your faith in humanity."

John Arthur Elliott is travelling around Australia with the camels and a dingo-cross-red healer.