Every time he attempted to leave, the crocodile would make his presence felt, leaving the adventurer stranded for a fortnight.
On Saturday, local Don MacLeod spotted a light on the island, and when he checked it out, the hatless, shirtless and desperate visitor approached.
"When I came round through Red Bluff opposite Governor Island I saw a flash in the scrub,'' Mr MacLeod told ABC radio.
"I went across and Brian came out looking a bit distraught.
"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.''
Brian's passage to WA was an incredible story in itself, having travelled from Queensland to the Kimberley on a yacht whose owner was then jailed in the Northern Territory, leaving his passenger stranded for two months.
After hitching a lift with a solo yachtsman from the Territory to WA, he was dropped on Governor Island with 160 litres of water, some flour and dry stores.
But after realising he was unprepared for the Kimberley wilderness, his first attempt to reach the mainland was thwarted by the massive crocodile.
Mr MacLeod said the story was incredible.
"He said every time he got in his little kayak, which was only 2.5m long, this crocodile - who has lived there for many years and is a monster - has chased him,'' Mr MacLeod said.
"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 has been given a bed at a mission on the mainland as he recovers.
Attempts to contact him have so far been unsuccessful.
- AAP
