An 81-year-old Australian man who became lost on an early morning drive to the shops and ended up almost 600 kilometres (370 miles) away told police he failed to stop because he "liked to drive".
Eric Steward was visiting friends in Yass, a country town south of Sydney in New South Wales state, when he left to buy a newspaper at about 7:30am on Monday morning.
But after taking a wrong turn on the highway, he drove for more than eight hours before stopping police to ask for directions near Geelong in Victoria.
He said Wednesday he could not remember what he was thinking during the drive.
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"I just went out on the road to have a drive, a nice peaceful quiet drive. I didn't know where I was going but I knew it was somewhere, and with a bit of luck I would eventually find my wife again," he said.
Steward's wife, Clare, had become increasingly worried about her spouse after reaching him on his mobile telephone.
"He's a good driver. Very focused, I knew that much," she said.
"We eventually knew where he was when I said 'Are there any signs around?' He said, 'uh, Westgate Bridge'," she said in reference to the famous Melbourne landmark.
Victoria state policeman Clayton Smith said Steward had come up to him at a service station and told him he was lost.
"Although we had to laugh. When we asked him why he hadn't stopped earlier he replied, 'I just like to drive'," he said.
The Stewards fronted a press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, where Eric seemed unconcerned about the media attention.
"It's a lot of fuss isn't it?" he said.
"When you get to 80 and beyond it doesn't matter much. He's out there waiting for us and you just got to wait your turn."
And what about buying a satellite navigation system? "Why would you want one of those? You can't get lost. There is no fun in that." - AFP
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