A 36 year old has hidden inside a wheelbarrow for at least half an hour during a game of hide and seek, it has emerged.

The game took place in a back garden in Methven New Zealand where British backpacker Caroline Gough has been staying with her university friend Helen.

Caroline explained “I was playing hide and seek with Helen’s children Lola and Max. Max was the best at hiding because he’s only 4 and quite small. But he kept making chicken noises from his hiding place which rather gave the game away.”

Caroline hid in a variety of different places, including behind a hedge and under the picnic bench. But it was when she crawled inside the upturned wheelbarrow that she finally struck gold.

“The children searched all over the garden, shouting my name, then when they couldn’t find me, they pretended that the game was over, so that I would come out and reveal myself, but I stayed where I was, even when I realised I was sharing the space with a spider. At one point they came really close to the wheelbarrow and I had to stifle a giggle, but they still didn’t find me.”

Eventually it went quiet and Caroline emerged from her hiding place to discover that the children had stopped looking for her in favour of playing with the Lego. “They never found out where I was hiding,” Caroline explained. “I’m going to hide there again tomorrow, but I might take a book with me to pass the time.”