{"id":86855,"date":"2026-09-03T06:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T06:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/86855\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T06:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T06:33:22","slug":"brink-of-madness-german-backpacker-carolina-wilga-details-her-12-day-wa-outback-nightmare-in-tell-all-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/86855\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Brink of madness\u2019: German backpacker Carolina Wilga details her 12-day WA outback nightmare in tell-all book"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the extraordinary story of survival that gave Hollywood blockbuster movies a run for their money.<\/p>\n

German backpacker Carolina Wilga<\/a> was exploring the state\u2019s Wheatbelt in June 2025 when she ran into mechanical problems, miles away from the nearest town, triggering an intense search and rescue mission in WA\u2019s outback.<\/p>\n

It would be 12 days and 11 nights before she would see another person again, during which time the tiny Wheatbelt town of Beacon, about 250 kilometres north-east of Perth, would be thrust into the international spotlight.<\/p>\n

A year on from the incredible ordeal, the 26-year-old has revealed how she survived in one of the world\u2019s harshest regions, in her tell-all book written exclusively in German, set to be released on Friday.<\/p>\n

In a post uploaded to her Instagram stories on Thursday morning, Ms Wilga revealed: \u201cMany of you followed my disappearance through the media last year.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe backpacker ran into trouble with her car while exploring WA\u2019s Wheatbelt and wouldn\u2019t see another person for 12 days. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

\u201cAfterwards, things became very quiet around me. The reason for this was something very special: I had the wonderful opportunity to process what I experienced by writing a book, to record my story, and in doing so, share it with you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe book will be available in stores (in Germany) from 4 September 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

The German national went on to share that there were no current plans for the book to be translated into English, stating: \u201cAnd for my English-speaking friends. Unfortunately there is no translation planned yet. But hopefully soon!\u201d<\/p>\n

In a preview extract of her new book titled \u2018\u2019Dem Outback entkommen; Mein \u00dcberlebenskampf in der australischen Wildnis\u2019 which literally translates to \u2018Escape from the Outback; My fight for survival in the Australian wilderness\u2019, the backpacker begins her story with an overview of her ordeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 26-year-old baker Carolina Wilga disappeared in the Australian Outback in the summer of 2025, she left her friends and the entire world wondering about her fate,\u201d the extract begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarefoot and dressed only in shorts and a T-shirt, she set off alone through the rugged landscape of the Karron Hills.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe image of the backpacker emerging from a police vehicle after being found following an intense 12 day search would be seen across the world. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

\u201cHer search for food and drinking water, her battle against swarms of mosquitoes and almost impenetrable vegetation, repeatedly brought her to the brink of madness.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet Carolina\u2019s instinct to survive kept her going, so that in the end she accomplished what seemed impossible: surviving in one of the most remote regions of the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The professional baker also revealed how her journey had led her from a quiet town in west Germany across the world to a remote part of Western Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer search for her roots and her profession took her via Morocco and Indonesia to Australia. In India, she also trained as a yoga teacher. After her struggle for survival in the Outback, she returned to Germany,\u201d the extract continues.<\/p>\n

Ms WIilga\u2019s hellish ordeal, which left her needing hospital treatment for six days after losing 12kg, has surprisingly not deterred her from adventurous travel, with the extract revealing: \u201cExtensive travels continue to have a firm place in her everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year the backpacker\u2019s unsuspecting hero, a local livestock farmer, revealed how she had miraculously stumbled upon the missing woman one fateful June morning.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe backpacker spent six days at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch recovering from her injuries after also losing 12 kilograms during her ordeal. Credit: Instagram<\/p>\n

Pastoralist Tania Henley had been returning home after a shopping trip when she found Ms Wilga emerging from the bush waving her arms frantically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought she was dead and she thought she was going to die,\u201d Ms Henley told Nine News.<\/p>\n

More than 100 WA police officers had been tasked with finding the missing backpacker, with the mission proving near-impossible due to the harsh outback conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After finding one another, the pair drove an hour towards emergency crews where the two would be separated after Ms Wilga was whisked away to be treated for her injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no time to say thank you and goodbye, it was just yeah,\u201d Ms Henley continued, though she is hopeful for a reunion at some point in the future, admitting that finding the missing woman had \u201cchanged my life, for better or worse\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dem Outback entkommen; Mein \u00dcberlebenskampf in der australischen Wildnis is available to purchase on Amazon from September 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the extraordinary story of survival that gave Hollywood blockbuster movies a run for their money. German…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[152,335,464,33],"class_list":["post-86855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-news","tag-perth","tag-wa-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}