Paramedic Andrew Ryan said they spotted police trail bike riders from the air and followed them until they spotted Mr Ludbrook on the ground, under a white blanket.

Mr Ryan and a doctor were winched in, finding the elderly man hypothermic and dehydrated, but otherwise well.

"He wasn't aware of where he was, how he got there or how long he had been out there, but he knew his age and who he was," Mr Ryan said.

The team's first task was to remove Mr Ludbrook's wet clothes, a thin layer that comprised a navy T-shirt over a flannelette shirt and a pair of tracksuit pants.

"Our main aim was to get him into a much warmer environment," Mr Ryan said.

"We have a thermal protection cell that we use for these sorts of circumstances. It's a down sleeping bag and was used to gently rewarm him."

The sleeping bag worked a treat. As Mr Ludbrook was carried from the bush by a team of rescuers, he was found to be sleeping soundly.

Mr Ryan said he was lucky to have been found in such good condition.

"He's obviously become disoriented and had not been able to establish the correct way to get himself home.

"He had no food and no water and he survived like this for almost three days.

"He is a very lucky man given the extremes of temperatures and the rain that we've had over the last couple of days."

As Mr Ludbrook was taken to Wollongong Hospital, police arrived at his home to collect his 67-year-old sister Hazel.

Ms Ludbrook said she was down the street at Andrews Pharmacy, Corrimal when a sales assistant told her that her brother had been found.

"The girl had heard it on the radio but I'd been at the doctor's. I arrived home to find the police had been and left their card," she said.

"I was very happy to hear the news. I was starting to give up hope. I thought it was too late, but it's never too late, is it?"

Ms Ludbrook said she and her brother, both unmarried, had shared the same home for 60 years. They also have a brother John, who lives in Queensland.

Back at the Tarrawanna base camp, the team of rescuers was celebrating.

Wollongong City SES local controller Warren Helson said the searchers were close to finding their man.

"The police trail bike riders had been past that area and it was there, later, that some other trail bike people found him.

"The great thing about it he was actually found within the search area mapped out by police.

"Everybody is elated that he was found alive."

Inspector Brian Wyver said the outcome showed the joint effort of volunteers and rescue agencies working together for a good result.

"Everyone worked really well over the last three days and it's pleasing when you get a result like this.

"Like every search, you live in hope and on this occasion we've been pretty lucky," Insp Wyver said.

The case of Mr Ludbrook's disappearance is strikingly similar to that of Tarrawanna man Jim McGrath, who went missing in the same area in August 2006.

The 65-year-old, who was suffering mild Alzheimer's, was found alive in bushland three days later, suffering mild hypothermia and dehydration.