It's been a whirlwind of emotion for the locals of Marokopa and Kiritehere after a Ōtorohanga man and his young children arrived home after weeks missing on the rugged Waikato coast.
Thomas Philips and his tamariki Jayda (8), Maverick (6) and Ember (5) walked out of the bush early on Thursday morning, having last been seen on Saturday, 11 September.
Their disappearance sparked a huge rescue effort, with police, landSAR and locals banding together to look for the family.
Ōtorohanga Mayor Max Baxter told Breakfast it was a "huge relief" for everyone, including the tight knit communities who aided in search efforts over the past few weeks.
"It's a big relief and a whole lot of emotion out there in the community. When you get to Marokopa and Kiritehere, where it's extremely isolated, communities are really close," he said.
"They really feel the pain for the family when they're going through the nightmare this family is going through."
Baxter likened the family's return to "a fairytale" with many having held out hope they would be found in the wilderness, despite chances dwindling as weeks went by.
"At the moment, there's a lot of unanswered questions but I'm just glad the family is back together.
"Let's hope they can all support each other and, in due course, those questions will be answered."
He said the wider community response was "indicative of small town New Zealand" where locals look out for each other in a relatively isolated section of the country.
"They all supported the teams out there working, brought them a huge amount of kai to ensure everyone was well sustained, respectful of police's searches but the locals were conducting their searches as well.
"So again, it's indicative of small town New Zealand, really isolated communities looking out for each other."
Kiritehere kaumātua Nora Haupokia who knew Thomas Philips and his children had been helping to provide food for those involved.
She'd continued to hold out hope for their safe return after days went by with the family still missing.
Kaumātua Nora Haupokia and Raniera Winikera from the local radio station were relieved to hear the news. (Source: Other)
"We thought they must be out in the bush there, on land [rather than missing at sea]."
Relieved by the outcome, Haupokia said the community could now settle back down and move on now the family had returned safely.
Maniapoto FM General Manager Raniera Winikerei said their local radio station had been on the ground helping to support the community and family at the heart of the search.
"Our priority was actually as whanau in supporting the whole kaianga, so that was helping Aunty Nora... but also the search and rescue, providing cultural practices as well as talking to the media."
He added that an important part was helping the community not to feel overwhelmed in an already stressful time as New Zealand's attention turned towards the small isolated communities.
"The past few weeks have been incredibly difficult and stressful, particularly for the immediate whanau but also for our small, isolated and tight knit community of Marokopa and Kiritehere."
Winikerei said that it was "just amazing" to have a such a positive outcome for the family.
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