A 62-YEAR-OLD man spent a windy night in his tent on Friday night when he became lost between Nelson and Lake Mombeong.

The Warrnambool-region man was rescued by police helicopter on Saturday at about 11am and was reportedly in good health.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said the man had started walking along a coastal section of the 250km-long trail in the Discovery Bay Coastal Park section of the walk on Friday morning however was running low on supplies by the afternoon.

He “decided to take a short-cut through thick scrubland in the hopes of reaching a road,” she added.

“He quickly became lost and after only managing to travel 200m within four hours due to the dense bush and boggy terrain, he decided it was time to call for help at 2.45pm.”

The man managed to phone 000 and an on-ground search was initiated with the support of SES volunteers and Parks Victoria staff on Friday afternoon until it became too dark to continue.

He set up camp in his bright orange tent and the police helicopter searched for him on Saturday morning, finding him about 500m south of Johnsons Rd, Nelson, at about 11am.

“They were able to winch the man to safety, including picking up his camping gear.

“He was taken to waiting paramedics where he was given a clean bill of health.”

Johnsons Rd is roughly halfway between Nelson and Lake Mombeong, and is near conservation priority area Long Swamp.