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When a skinny stray cat arrived at Lee Henderson’s home in Amberley, North Canterbury, she tried to shoo her away, fearing she would upset her elderly cat Bobita, who is 19.
But the feline visitor showed no inclination to leave and every indication she was getting comfy in her new environment.
Lee decided to try and find her owner. She contacted another Amberley woman, Barb Demmocks, who was trying to find her lost cat, which did look a lot like Lee’s feline overstayer but the moggie wasn't hers.
By this time Lee had befriended her wee visitor, giving her regular meals, a safe place to sleep and even a name - Goldie.
However, she still wanted to find Goldie’s real owner so she decided to take her to the Amberley vet clinic to see if she was chipped.
It turned out Goldie was chipped but the location of her former home, in Cambridge, in the North Island, about 763 kilometres from Amberley, was a shock.
However, there was an even bigger surprise to come. When Lee phoned Goldie’s registered owners they said she had been missing for more than a year. They had given up hope of finding her and had another cat now, but would take her back if Lee did not want her.
Lee has decided to keep the little stray which made such a long journey to find her, but she would love to know how she got across Cook Strait and down to Amberley.
Goldie’s former owner Georgia Nugent-O’Leary, who owns a lifestyle block near Lake Karapiro, eight kilometres from Cambridge, says she called Goldie "Mum Cat" because she arrived at her place as a stray with a kitten.
She was quite feral to start with, but Georgia got her spayed and microchipped as soon as possible and Mum Cat stayed for about two years before suddenly disappearing.
Georgia says she has no idea how Mum Cat might have got to Amberley, but her guess is that initially she may have unintentionally hitched a ride on the back of a truck carrying wood chips, as there is a wood-chipping business at the back of her property.
But what happened in the 12 months after that, before she turned up at Lee’s place, is a mystery.
"They say cats find their owners," Georgia says. "I am just glad she is okay and seems to have found her happy place with Lee.”