The sign at the front desk of the Katoomba youth hostel, in Sydney's Blue Mountains, reads: "Register here for bushwalks".

Which means all you need to do is cross the road and register your name and destination with the police station and they will issue you with a portable distress beacon in case you get lost.

Jamie Neale, who had brought an all-weather spaceblanket from Britain but left it behind with family in Western Australia, didn't bother.

The 19-year-old, from Muswell Hill in North London, checked into the hostel on Thursday, July 2. The next day he left his solar-battery powered phone behind and went on his own on a day walk to a nearby bushwalking track that is popular with backpackers.

His destination was the Ruined Castle lookout, a picturesque sandstone plateau that overlooks part of the Blue Mountains, about 100km west of Sydney.

At Ruined Castle there is a sign that says: "Experienced bushwalkers only".

At about midday on Friday he spoke to a couple at the lookout and said he was heading to Mount Solitary.

Janet McGarry, spokeswoman for the Katoomba YHA, said: "We don't recommend anyone do the walk to Mount Solitary at this time of year because there's not enough daylight."

The walk, which cuts through some of the most dangerous terrain in Australia, takes about eight hours from Ruined Castle to Mount Solitary. It is winter in Australia and at midday there are only about four hours of daylight left in the mountains.

Ms McGarry said backpackers rarely registered where they are going.

New South Wales Police estimate that the 12-day recovery operation to find Mr Neale has cost hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars.

Sargeant Ian Colless, who headed the NSW police search and rescue operation, said: "It's nothing short of remarkable that he survived given how ill equipped he was." But he also defended Mr Neale, saying: "He did think he was going out for a few hours' walk, not a 12-day hike."

But he warned walkers to remain where they are when they get lost rather than trying to find their 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."

Mr Neale's father Richard Cass, upon seeing him for the first time yesterday, apparently clipped him around the ears for getting lost in the Australian bush.

Richard Cass said; "I can't say I'll kill him ... because obviously that will spoil the point of him coming back. But, yeah, I'm going to kick his ass."

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• UN may halt 400-year-old 'freedom of the seas'
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone
• Gas deal on hold, but Ukraine may pay in the end