Pocket rocket Lisa Carrington's gold medal sprint in canoeing on Saturday night capped a marvellous two weeks for New Zealand at the world's biggest festival of sport.
Carrington won the country's fifth gold medal and 13th in all, equalling the record haul of the 1988 team in Seoul.
The number of golds was three fewer than in Los Angeles, the 1984 Games boycotted by the Eastern bloc countries.
But the 2012 team won two more medals overall.
All five New Zealand gold medals in London were won on the water, with three rowing crews and sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie joining Carrington on the top of the podium.
New Zealand surpassed its haul of nine medals (three gold) from Beijing in 2008, and won eight more medals than the five (three gold) picked up in Athens in 2004.
Before last night, New Zealand was in 15th place in terms of medals won in London.
The closing ceremony is scheduled to start at 8am today (NZ time).
More than 100 Olympians are expected to attend New Zealand's official welcome home event in Hagley Park, Christchurch, on Friday, August 24.
