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Rescued Zavros family relieved camper-truck is finally unbogged from Simpson Desert

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John FlintThe West Australian
The Zavros family and their camper truck will soon be reunited.
Camera IconThe Zavros family and their camper truck will soon be reunited. Credit: The West Australian

A Perth family rescued by helicopter from the rugged Simpson Desert hope to be reunited with their beloved home-made camper-truck in the new year after having it dug out and driven to a safe location.

Orios and Lindsey Zavros have revealed to their 8170 Instagram followers that “the truck and camper are out of the mud and safe.”

Mr Zavros said a crew from the Mt Dare Hotel, 10km south of the Northern Territory border in South Australia, had driven to the site where their truck got bogged on Thursday.

After freeing it, they’d driven it back to the hotel, which is on the western edge of the Simpson Desert.

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Pictured at home are Ori and Lindsey Zavros with their kids Zoe and Zane who are all back home in Perth after being rescued from the outback.
Camera IconOrios and Lindsey Zavros with their children, Zoe and Zane. Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian

The couple and their two young children, Zoe and Zane, were rescued on November 16 after spending eight days and seven nights in the stationary camper which got stuck in the mud and stranded by rising floodwaters 150km north-east of Oodnadatta.

A helicopter rescue mission led by South Australia Police was mounted because of an extreme heat forecast.

It meant leaving the truck behind. After landing some 500km away in Coober Pedy, they flew home to Perth.

Mr Zavros said he was relieved to finally have the truck in a secure location. He said they would probably get it transported from the Mt Dare Hotel to their northern suburbs home in January or February. He envisaged they would sell it, despite the many adventures it had taken them on.

The family were on the homeward leg of an around-the-nation trip when they got bogged.

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