Injured German tourist Alexander Stelling survived on honey while lost five days in rugged bushland

INJURED, confused and thousands of kilometres from home, German tourist Alexander Stelling is believed to have survived on honey for almost five days lost in rugged bushland.

• Missing tourist turns up in Tailem Bend after five days seeking help

INJURED, confused and thousands of kilometres from home, German tourist Alexander Stelling is believed to have survived on honey for almost five days lost in rugged bushland.

On Tuesday morning he was given his first decent meal in days – leftover shepherd’s pie and two glasses of milk – having spent five nights sleeping rough near Tailem Bend.

The disappearance of Mr Stelling remains a mystery after he crashed his black Renault Koleo station wagon a few kilometres east of the Murraylands town last Thursday.

He hit a guard rail on the Dukes Hwy, leaving behind his passport and mobile phone and sparking a police manhunt.

Mr Stelling finally sought help at 6am yesterday when he knocked on the door of Frank and Marie Henderson at their Blacketts Rd property – 3km from the crash site.

Mr Henderson told The Advertiser it seemed Mr Stelling had survived his ordeal by taking honey from a nearby house and leaving money to pay for it.

He said a neighbour had reported the honey missing from their outside shed, which they linked to Mr Stelling after he was found.

Mr Henderson said he knew who Mr Stelling was as soon as he opened the door, and soon discovered he had spent the night on their outdoor patio with the couple’s 12-year-old dog, Gem. “You don’t expect to see strange people ... at six o’clock in the morning,” he said.

Mr Henderson said Mr Stelling had “obviously copped a whack to the head” and seemed confused.

He said although Mr Stelling communicated with hand gestures and broken English, he was able to understand the tourist when he said he was part way through a month-long Australian holiday. “He has stayed in the area but he is probably too confused,” he said.

Despite the unusual circumstances surrounding Mr Stelling’s ordeal, Mr Henderson said it was not the strangest incident he had been involved with, having volunteered with the Country Fire Service for about 30 years.

His wife, Marie, said she was relieved Mr Stelling was found safe and relatively unhurt.

“He was fine, he had some blood on his jeans but that’s all,” she said.

“He had his wrist bandaged up and there was some dirt and dust in his pockets. I don’t know where he was, as he couldn’t tell us anything about the last four to five days.”

Mrs Henderson said finding water in the area would not have been a problem for Mr Stelling but food would have been scarce.

Mr Stelling was taken to Tailem Bend District Hospital, then transferred to Flinders Medical Centre for further assessment.