Dawn McDonald, of Invercargill, and Teresa Davis, of Nebraska, began their correspondence in 1959 when they were 12 and 11 years old respectively.
Ms McDonald said they lost touch once they both left high school.
Last July, Ms McDonald was surfing the web when she discovered the "friends of Cody Nebraska" Facebook group.
After a bit of messaging, she was eventually put in touch with Mrs Davis by one of the group’s members.
"I looked at the photo and I thought, I wonder if it’s her.
"The next thing you know she replies with ‘I remember you’", Ms McDonald said.
When Mrs Davis told her she would be visiting Dunedin on a cruise ship, Norwegian Spirit, Ms McDonald said she drove up to the city with family in tow to meet her.
"I was down there at Port Chalmers with my sister and I had my Teresa sign up", she said.
The pair spent their day together touring the scenery and catching up over pizza for lunch.
Neither of them ever thought they would meet in person, nor did they know what to say when they first saw each other.
"We just hugged each other", Mrs Davis said.
Now that they had the chance to resume their conversation in person, the pair concluded it was much better face-to-face than on paper.
"I think we’ll keep in touch a lot more now", Ms McDonald said.
"Now that we’ve actually met each other and know a little bit more about our families, and we’re both the same age", Mrs Davis said.
