Mike and Lorna Gibbens, formerly of London, look forward to their friend Jill Woods sending one from the United Kingdom each festive season.
True to her word, Ms Woods sent the Gibbens a pudding this year — but along the way, their address wore off the package.
The only legible detail remaining on the parcel showed it was sent from Arkholme, in Lancashire, by a woman named Jill.
Last week, New Zealand Post coastal Otago area manager Craig Strathern appealed to the Dunedin community to help find the pudding’s destination.
"It was hoped the intended recipient was expecting it."
Mr Strathern was delighted to say both the sender and intended recipient had been identified yesterday, and the pudding was on its way to the Gibbens who were holidaying out of town.
"We managed to track down the sender as a result of some deft internet detective work.
"Interestingly, someone from the village of Arkholme must also have become aware of the story because they contacted me to say they were mobilising a village WhatsApp group to try to identify the sender"
Ms Woods was surprised at the ability of social media users to track her down.
"The story was shared in our village as a resident’s friend lives in Dunedin and saw your article. An email did the rounds and was shared on Facebook," she said.
"On Friday I had received a LinkedIn message from Craig at NZ Post and the address of my friend in Dunedin was passed on.
"Here's hoping they are united with the Christmas pud in time for the big day."
Mr Gibbens said because they were out of town on holiday, they did not see the article, and the first they knew of it was when Ms Woods texted them.
Lickety-split, they called NZ Post to let it know the pudding was meant for them.
"It’s one of those things for us to do — to have a traditional UK Christmas pud."
Now that the Gibbens know where it is, there is only one question left: which pudding is in the package?
"Normally it’s a Marks & Spencer rich pudding of some description, but at this stage, we don’t know what it is.
"It’s a surprise."
