A group of Australian climbers rescued from New Zealand's highest mountain yesterday are expected to touch down on home soil this morning.
The six Sydney-siders miraculously survived a 36 hour ordeal on Mount Cook after becoming trapped in treacherous snow storm.
Story telling and a birthday celebration kept six Australian climbers entertained as they huddled in a small tent after becoming trapped by heavy snow on New Zealand's highest peak for 36 hours.
The group today expressed mixed feelings about their ordeal while rescuers have criticised their preparations.
One rescuer said the climbers had failed to carry enough emergency gear like avalanche beacons and shovels and said they were fortunate have escaped the severe conditions.
The party, from NSW and aged between 27 and 52 years, activated an emergency beacon on Thursday night from Mt Cook on the sixth day of a week-long expedition on New Zealand's South Island.
For two nights the four men and two women were trapped in heavy snow staying warm by huddling together in one three-man tent before being found.
The party has been named as Terry Cole, Melissa Clerke, Gerald Osman, Stephen Dolphin, David Freeland and Jennie Landon by people involved with the rescue effort.
Mr Dolphin said the climbers made the best of their time together in cramped conditions, with one of the female climbers celebrating her birthday last night.
"I suppose you would say it's mixed emotions through the group," Mr Dolphin told Radio NZ.
"We're fine.
"Some of them are extremely relieved to be down here and others are sort of annoyed that we required rescuing."
He said he entertained the group with stories about his climbing experiences over the years.
The climbers met as a group for the first time last Friday just before they began the trip, he said.
He said they got within 500 metres of the final hut when they decided to stop and pitch their tents because of deteriorating weather.
Appalling conditions including heavy snow and avalanche warnings hampered any rescue until a break in the weather enabled rescuers to spot the party and make a rescue this morning.
The group was brought to Mt Cook village by helicopter about 8am today and after being cleared of injury, left the village by road about 12.30pm headed for Christchurch.
New Zealand mountain guide Charlie Hobbs said the group were "really cheerful and ... in good condition" but they should have set out with better equipment and local knowledge.
"I believe they could have had better gear, like avalanche beacons and shovels," he said.
Mr Hobbs said they did not have a guide and there were some novices among the group.
"We can get serious snowfalls and seriously cold temperatures.
"These guys were really lucky they didn't suffer any cold weather injuries or anything like that."
One of the climbers, Jennie Landon, said the group had to make a quick decision when the weather turned bad.
"When we realised that we couldn't go forward and we had to set up the tent quickly, I guess it was then that we knew we could be stuck there," Ms Landon told Network Ten.
Fellow climber Melissa Clerke said she was relieved when she saw the helicopter on Saturday.
"I was just going to cry, it was just this massive relief that came over me."
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said a consular official thanked rescuers for their tireless efforts over the past two days.
