New Zealand finally welcomes godwit two months after it was blown 2,000km back to Alaska

The bird has failed to complete the non-stop, 12,200km journey three times in the past year

A plucky migrating godwit that captured New Zealand's attention after it was forced to make a dramatic U-turn back to Alaska after 33 hours of non-stop flight has finally touched down in the country.

Every year, the Eastern bar-tailed godwits, or kuaka in Mori, make one of the longest avian migration flights in the world, travelling from their breeding ground in the Arctic, across the Pacific, to New Zealand.