Czech woman survives for a month in remote New Zealand hut after partner dies while hiking

A Czech tourist was found holed up in a hut in the New Zealand wilderness nearly a month after her partner died while out trekking in the country.

The woman was discovered by police next to Lake McKenzie along the Routeburn Track on the country’s South Island on Wednesday.

She told officers she had taken shelter in the hut after her partner died four days into their backpacking hike along the trail in Fiordland National Park on July 28.

The man fell down a deep slope and, although she climbed down to help him, he died shortly afterwards. The woman then managed to find shelter in a remote, unlocked warden's hut.

The New Zealand Herald reported the woman was interviewed by police for five hours in hospital last night.

She was said to be “ecstatic” after being found and in good health, but still distressed by her partner’s death.

Police are now searching for her partner's body, believed to be around 2km from where the woman was found inside the hut.

The couple, believed to be in their late 20s or early 30s, had been in New Zealand since January for work and travel, police said