Seven weeks after the plucky reptile disappeared from her Playfair St home, her owner, Cjay Neve, thought she was a goner.
Then, last Saturday, she received a call from her sister at 6.30am, asking if she had seen the Otago Daily Times.
Splashed across the page was a photo of Ruby in Dunedin’s Steamer Basin.
"It’s amazing," she said.
"My fingers were crossed that she’d come home."
The turtle had been rescued by fisherman Lance Moore, who took her to the SPCA.
Miss Neve was able to identify her pet by a distinctive bite mark on her neck, and the pair were reunited.
It also meant Ruby was reunited with her boyfriend and tank-mate, Ruphed the turtle.
They believed Ruby had escaped through a cat door about December 27, when they went on holiday.
"We searched and searched but she was nowhere to be found.
"We put posters out there, asked all the neighbours, but nobody had seen her."
From there, her movements were unknown, but they believed she had got into a stormwater drain and been washed out to sea.
Apart from some scrapes and bruises, and a few chips on her shell, Ruby was unharmed.
"For the first night or two at home she was a bit off, but she’s come right."
Miss Neve had owned the turtles for about a year, after getting them from a friend who needed to re-home them.
"She’s really friendly. She’s the friendliest turtle, she loves people."
