Brings immediately to mind a Gary Larson cartoon whose caption reads more or less "Nope, it says HELF - guess they are OK."

As almost always in accounts of this nature, there are intriguing and pertinent omissions. A two day trip and he was already "overdue"... Who or what triggered the SAR process? Why no shoes?

It seems like a full blown SAR operation erupted overnight. They are certainly prompt to respond down under.