He is recovering at the Katherine Hospital.

He was found about 11am, about 40km from Mataranka alongside the Stuart Highway.

The man was last seen early last week, when the vehicle he was travelling in broke down approximately 12kms south of Beswick community.

Police responded to a report of a man seen near the Stuart highway, a significant distance from the outermost perimeter of the search location.

At this time, it appears that the man walked to this location unassisted, using cattle station fence lines and seldom used tracks.

Police said they understood the man survived by drinking from natural water sources and station bores and troughs.

He is currently being assessed for dehydration and heat exposure at Katherine hospital.

It comes just after official search ended for the man after six days of looking using more than 20 police, other emergency services and two helicopters.

The 27-year-old had been missing for six days.

Two people, the man and another woman, decided last Tuesday to walk back to Beswick after the car they were travelling in broke down.

Other members of the group stayed with the vehicle and were later rescued.

The woman safely made the 12km walk to Beswick although police said she arrived "dehydrated and in poor physical condition".

Police yesterday revealed the man had broken away from the woman he was travelling with to search for water.

Maximum temperatures in the area at the time were around 40 degrees.

The search was co-ordinated from Katherine.

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