It started as a morning of sightseeing in a picturesque area of North Queensland — and ended with a chopper rescue and a race against the tide.
Misty Davison, her three daughters and a niece were exploring the walking tracks at Cape Hillsborough, about 50 kilometres north of Mackay, on Saturday, when her 16-year-old daughter Elisha dislocated her knee.
"We'd done the whole track and then we got to the bottom of Andrew's Point and she [Elisha] ended up taking two steps on the rocks and … she said, 'My knee's popped out mum'," Ms Davison said.
"She was screaming cause it wasn't going to pop back in by itself."
Ms Davison called emergency services for help, but it wasn't clear if the rescue would be via boat, or helicopter.
Adding to the group's stress was the speed at which the tide was coming in.
"I was like, 'Oh shit, the tide's coming in, we're going to have to move her … it's coming in quick'," she said.
"Where we were, when the tide comes up it can block you to get access to the path back up to the top.
"[But] if we kept moving back inwards, they [the rescue helicopter] wouldn't have seen us under the tree line."
Elisha's emergency was one of eight rescue missions the RACQ CQ Rescue Service attended over the weekend, in what has proven to be a hectic start to the year.
Help is on the way
Friends of the family had raised the alarm with the operators of the nearby Nature Tourist Park, so a staff member set off to try to find Ms Davison and the girls.
"He tracked himself in to look for us and he got there about the same time as the helicopter got there," Ms Davison said.
"He stayed with us and walked us all the way back and made sure we were all alright [after Elisha was rescued]."
She also praised the CQ Rescue Service crew who came to their aid.
The helicopter circled the area several times before the decision was made to winch a doctor and a rescuer down to the injured teen.
"It was such a relief when we knew they were coming," Ms Davison said.
Elisha was flown to the Mackay Base Hospital in a stable condition and was discharged later that morning.
Her mum said her daughter was already planning her next hike.
"She's already said, I'm going back there and I'm going to smash that rock'," she said.
Busy start to the year
The rescue at Cape Hillsborough was one of eight missions flown by the rescue helicopter service over the weekend.
The Mackay-based CQ Rescue Service flew more than 2,300 kilometres in just two days, and has already clocked up 18 missions in just the first nine days of the year.
Two of the weekend's rescue operations involved a man suffering life-threatening lacerations and blood loss after an incident with an angle grinder at Carmila on Saturday morning, and later on Saturday, a 13-year-old needed medical attention after a suspected Irukandji jellyfish sting in waters off Keswick Island.
The busy start to the year follows the second busiest year on record for the service, with 638 missions in 2022.
