Missing woman's ordeal still a mystery

Australian detectives are hoping Shannon Leah Fraser will fill them in about her ordeal.

Detectives are hoping a Queensland woman who emerged alive after 17 days lost in rugged bushland will fill them in about the ordeal.

Shannon Leah Fraser stumbled out of the bush on Wednesday about 30 metres from the spot where she was last seen on September 21, at a swimming hole south of Cairns.

Her disappearance sparked a huge search in which emergency crews spent 800 hours scouring the area.

The 30-year-old reportedly told family she lost 16kg surviving on insects, creek water and fish.

Ms Fraser remains in a stable condition at the Innisfail Hospital where she has been treated for cuts and sunburn.

Inspector Rhys Newton has said officers briefly spoke to the woman but they're hoping to have a more in-depth conversation with her in the coming days.

He believes Ms Fraser travelled outside the search area, however, he has full confidence in the police search co-ordinators.

"This is, I don't know about miracles, but this certainly is pretty unique that a person has been able to survive in that terrain, in that environment, for 17 days," he told reporters on Thursday.

"Her movements have gone out of what we could reasonably expect a person who is lost in those circumstances.

"We look for probable areas that people will move to and those areas were searched with a very high probability of finding her."

The woman had proposed to her boyfriend two days before she disappeared, according to the ABC.

Ms Fraser had gone to the swimming hole last month with two men, including her partner, who told police he'd left her sitting alone but when he returned five or 10 minutes later, she was gone.

Her disappearance isn't considered suspicious.

- AAP