Jamie Neale’s father promised to kick his son’s backside for causing so much trouble and hurt to those left to deal with the disappearance. His father is not the only one ready to do so.

The failure of the teenager to take simple safety precautions nearly had fatal consequences. During the lengthy search in treacherous conditions to find him even rescuers had to be saved. A woman from the National Parks and Wildlife Service broke her arm and a fire service volunteer collapsed from dehydration.

One local, identified as Mike from Katoomba, wrote on Times Online: “We searched for this person — involving 60 police, helicopters, volunteers, police dogs — for 11 days. The cost of this operation is huge. I am pleased that he was found safe and well but will the family pay for the $100,000-plus in costs?”

Josh from Sutherland wrote: “A stroll in the Blue Mountains National Park with no equipment ain’t quite the same as a ramble in the English countryside.”

Sergeant Ian Colless, who led the New South Wales police rescue operation, warned walkers to remain where they were if they got lost rather than trying to find a way out. “A moving target is much harder to spot,” he said. “He might have been in an area one day but by the time we searched it the following day he had left.”

Some even doubted that Mr Neale had been missing at all. “He looked fine considering he didn’t have any food and water for 11 days in the bush,” wrote the blogger Glenn of the Mountains. “A book and movie will follow.”

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