A German backpacker who endured 11 days alone in the Australian wilderness has opened up about the hallucinations she believes pulled her even farther into the Outback.
Carolina Wilga, 27, lost 12kg while trying to survive in isolated bushland after vanishing on June 29, 2025, near Beacon, about 300km north-east of Perth. Her ordeal began after she suffered a head injury in a crash.
Nearly two weeks later, a local station owner discovered her disoriented and exhausted after she stumbled out onto a dirt road.
Speaking in her first sit-down interview more than a year later, Ms Wilga recalled hearing strange noises after the crash — sounds she says confused her and led her deeper into the remote Western Australian landscape.
‘(It was) kind of like an alarm for me and I felt like I (had) to wake up,’ she told 7News Spotlight on Friday.
‘I’m sleeping. It was my alarm, like, “Get up out of your bed”. So I started walking but I didn’t know what I was doing.’
Without shoes, food or water, Ms Wilga walked away from her car and spent the following days drinking from puddles and sheltering in a cave as she battled to stay alive.
She said thoughts of her family helped keep her moving through the ordeal, adding: ‘I made my mum a promise that I will walk until I die, that I will not give up, I want to live.’
German backpacker Carolina Wilga, who survived almost 12 days lost in the Australian wilderness, has described the hallucinations she experienced while stranded in bushland
Ms Wilga was found by local farmer Tania Henley about 24km from her abandoned vehicle
Ms Wilga became dazed and confused after suffering a head injury in a crash and wandered away from her vehicle
Police launched a search by land and air for the missing backpacker after friends and family reported her disappearance.
During the search, authorities found her abandoned van in the Karroun Hill area, about 50km north-east of Beacon, where Ms Wilga was last seen.
She had become confused after hitting her head in a crash and wandered away from the vehicle.
Local farmer Tania Henley found Ms Wilga about 24km from her van and the pair were reunited during this week’s interview.
Ms Henley said she briefly crossed paths with Ms Wilga at Mount Churchman, a remote landmark on private property, just 24 hours before the backpacker was rescued.
‘I went there the day before and could only get about three-quarters of the way because the water had washed out the track, but I was looking for your tyre tracks,’ Ms Henley told the young woman.
Ms Wilga replied: ‘Thank you very, very much, Tania… you were such an angel.
‘It was not only that you took me to the police, (but) how you talked to me and how kind you were. This is not that common, so thank you for this. And I have your hoodie still.’
Ms Henley said she had encountered Ms Wilga at Mount Churchman only 24 hours before her rescue
Police launched a land and air search for the missing backpacker after friends and family reported her disappearance
Ms Wilga has since written a book about her ordeal and says she plans to return to Australia
The young woman suffered cuts, bruises, dehydration and exhaustion during her ordeal in the bush, where overnight temperatures dropped to almost freezing.
When Ms Henley found her, Ms Wilga was walking barefoot on an unsealed access road.
At the time, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said Ms Wilga’s survival was remarkable given the length of time she had spent in the wilderness.
‘That’s not something you would ordinarily expect, particularly in regional WA,’ Mr Blanch told 6PR radio.
‘To meet Tania on the road, just at that moment, (was) extraordinary luck.’
The young backpacker now plans to return to Australia and visit Bimbijy Station to see Ms Henley again.
Ms Henley said she was simply doing what she believed most Australians would do and that she expected their ‘paths will cross again’.
‘To me, it’s the Australian way. You help when people need help. That’s how it should be really,’ the farmer said.
Ms Wilga has since written a book about her experience, Escaping the Outback: My Fight for Survival in the Australian Wilderness.
