German tourists lost for more than a week after Google Maps mishap

Two German tourists are lucky to be alive after spending more than a week lost in the remote Far North Queensland wilderness.

Philipp Maier and his friend Marcel Schoene searched for help for days, dodged crocodiles, crossed rivers, endured thunderstorms and sheltered from heat too hot to walk in during the ordeal.

The pair was trying to drive from Cairns to Bamaga but after they reached Coen, they said they followed Google Maps directions off Peninsular Development Road onto a dirt track and into a national park.

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Sixty kilometres in, they became bogged and tried to walk further on foot before realising they were in serious trouble.

"I feel like in a movie, like in a bad movie but it was like with a happy end," Maier said.

"We tried to build a shelter. But that didn't work really well," Maier said.

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"So we slept under the sky. It was raining the whole time but it was okay."

They spent a week walking back to Coen, finally made it back to the small township to get help.

"Once they realised they were being led up a dry gully they pulled back and stayed with the vehicle as long as they could before making the decision to walk out," Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger Roger James said.

They spent a week walking back to Coen and finally made it back to the small township to get help.

"A crocodile was in the last creek we had to cross," Maier said.

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"We just ran through the creek because it was our only opportunity."

Rangers helped retrieve their four-wheel drive and said it is not the first reported mishap in the Cape linked to Google Maps.

"We've got no idea why this is happening," Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger Roger James said.

"We decided, 'OK, let's follow Google Maps because Google Maps knows maybe more than we know'," Maier said.

A Google spokeswoman said the company is glad the men are safe and is investigating.