Australian tourist's tuk-tuk hijacked by a very hungry Sri Lankan elephant

When a wild elephant shoved its trunk into an Australian traveller's hired tuk-tuk, her peaceful Sri Lankan road trip turned into a tense battle for her belongings.

Within seconds, nine months of travel memories and critical documents were dangling from the elephant's trunk, leaving the Newcastle resident, Darcie Van Huisstede, with only her wits to save the day.

What followed was a muddy salvage mission, and a textbook lesson in why you should always photograph your vacation wardrobe.

Ms Van Huisstede and her partner Matt were navigating through a Sri Lankan national park in heavy rain when they encountered the elephant on the roadside.

The couple, both 27 years old, were told that elephants often remained calm if vehicles in the national park kept moving, but this one did not.

"The elephant started to come straight towards our tuk-tuk ... It put its trunk inside the vehicle, so I couldn't drive anymore," the Newcastle resident said.

"We were being kind of held captive, there wasn't much we could do."

The elephant reached into the tuk-tuk and grabbed Ms Van Huisstede's beloved backpack, containing her passport, valuables and a diary documenting nine months of travel.

"My partner and the elephant had a tug of war over my little backpack ... the elephant won," Ms Van Huisstede said.

In an instant, the elephant had torn open the backpack, scattering precious items across the muddy road before moving on to larger backpacks.

"I was nervous for the passport and my journal, because I'd been travelling for nine months and written everything that I'd done in the journal," Ms Van Huisstede said.

The elephant wandered off after it found no food, leaving the Australian travellers to gather up all their muddy belongings before hurrying away.

No one was injured, and the passports were salvaged, but the cost to replace the lost items was significant, Ms Van Huisstede said.

So when the travellers contacted their travel agent to ask if they were covered for elephant damage, they were relieved to hear that insurer, nib travel, would be covering the lost items.

"I hadn't actually done a travel insurance claim before in all my travels ... this was the first time I was actually using it," Ms Van Huisstede said.

Ms Van Huisstede waited until she was back in Australia, with a reliable internet connection, to lodge her claim.

Before throwing away any damaged items, she photographed everything extensively.

She also provided her insurers with a proof of what was lost, by digging out photos of her items from previous trips.

"I went through my travel photos and said, 'Here's me wearing this exact rain jacket in seven different locations. It's mine'," she said.

Ms Van Huisstede said the claim was processed quickly, and she was now more prepared for future travel chaos.

"Expect the unexpected," she said.