Dianne Lane-Wright (45) was cold, hungry and tired, but safe and well, after spending three days in an area less than 500m away from where the wreckage of her car was found on Monday afternoon.
It is believed she ate or drank nothing in that time, but she was in good health despite her ordeal, her family said last night.
She was found at 11.05am and was able to walk to the search vehicle. She was taken to her home and reunited with family, before being taken to Milton for a checkup.
She expected to return home last night.
Searchers have described her survival as remarkable and several people, including her family, were preparing for the worst.
Her disappearance sparked a search and rescue operation involving thousands of man hours.
Police dogs were brought in and more than 30 volunteers and police covered a 6km area of bush, coastline and forestry around the coastal settlement.
Mrs Lane-Wright had apparently spent almost three days in a bush area that had been well searched twice by volunteers.
Searchers said she must have been well hidden to avoid detection.
Mrs Lane-Wright apparently told searchers she could hear them nearby at least once, but did not want to be found at that time.
South Otago Search and Rescue incident controller, Constable Murray Hewitson, of Owaka, was dropping off a small group of searchers near where Mrs Lane-Wright's car was found down a bank on Monday afternoon when he and another man spotted a woman nearby.
"I pulled out the binoculars and had a closer look. It looked like her and when we approached her, she said her name was Dianne. It was pretty surreal to be honest."
Search and rescue president Tony Chittock, who was in the same group, said Mrs Lane-Wright appeared to be in good condition for someone who had spent three nights out in the cold with no food, drink or shelter.
"I was still really surprised to find her safe and well. It's a good news story."
Const Hewitson said it was hard to believe Mrs Lane-Wright had been found no more than 500m from her vehicle, but "that can happen when you don't want to be found".
Yesterday's search - the fourth consecutive day volunteers had braved miserable conditions - began at 9.15am with a group of 10 concentrating along the coastline in the Bull Creek area before the search was widened to main access routes to the sea.
Clutha sub-area police controller Senior Sergeant Richard Whitmore said a fresh group of searchers was being deployed when they saw a woman in a gully.
"The person responded to a voice appeal from searchers and was identified as Mrs Lane-Wright."
When found, she was wearing the same clothing she was last seen in, was cold and wet and complained of being hungry.
She had gorse, bush and leaves on her clothing.
Snr Sgt Whitmore said it had been a challenging search over four days of extremely bad weather.
The police and search and rescue team members appreciated the support of the local community and crib owners in the area, he said.
"The positive outcome was the result of a lot of hard work and long hours by volunteers and police staff."
