SYDNEY: A tourist has had a lucky escape after being trapped on a remote Australian island for two weeks by a monster six-metre (20-foot) crocodile, reports said Monday.
The New Zealander, identified only as Ryan, was dropped with his kayak on Governor Island off Western Australia's far north by boat and had been intending to paddle the four kilometres (2.5 miles) back to the mainland.
He told his rescuer, Kalumburu resident Don Macleod, that every time he tried to kayak away from the island, the giant reptile stalked him. So he stayed on dry land, despite diminishing food and water supplies, for fear of being eaten.
"He said he was there for a fortnight and he came to the conclusion very quickly that he couldn't get off there without attracting this crocodile that lives in that area and probably was watching him all the time," Macleod told the ABC.
"So he was reduced then to trying to conserve his water and signal (for help)."
Macleod said he was familiar with the crocodile which roamed the island, which has no fresh water source.
"That crocodile, I've seen him several times actually going by quite fast," he said.
"One day he just happened to surface alongside me as I was going past and my boat's 20 foot long so he was well up towards the 20-foot mark."
Macleod said he only went to investigate on Saturday after spotting a light on Governor Island and came across the distressed man.
"I went across and Ryan came out looking a bit distraught," he told the broadcaster. "He came down the beach, he had no hat on and no shirt on.
"He was relieved and shocked, and thankful someone had come along because he was running out of options pretty quickly. He is a very, very lucky man."
"He was desperate for water when I trotted up. We gave him a cold beer, which was probably the wrong thing, and then he went to sleep about three-quarters of the way home."
The New Zealander is reportedly recovering on the mainland.
Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne, are a common feature of Australia's tropical north.
Last month a man was snatched by a large crocodile in front of horrified onlookers as he swam in a river in the Northern Territory. --AFP
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