Zara and Mike reunited in Dunedin

Zara Phillips was reunited with husband Mike Tindall last night after arriving in Dunedin.

It is the first time the couple have met since Tindall's antics in a Queenstown bar with a blonde last week.

Ms Phillips was seen entering the Southern Cross Hotel in Dunedin with Tindall, a female friend and a security guard shortly after arriving on the 7.55pm flight from Wellington.

She had been whisked away from the airport in a late-model silver Range Rover, with many on the flight not realising she was on the plane.

The Otago Daily Times spoke to two people on the flight who recognised her.

One said she was travelling with a female companion. Both sat toward the middle of the aircraft. Zara was wearing a black cap, while her friend wore a red one, and both sat quietly keeping their heads down for most of the flight.

"They were real subtle. She was just kind of really low key," one passenger, who declined to be named, said.

She did not initially realise Ms Phillips was on the plane, but they overheard cabin crew saying it was her and that she was to get the VIP treatment. When Ms Phillips left the plane, she was immediately talking on her cellphone.

After her surprise appearance at a charity event in central Auckland on Wednesday night, Ms Phillips, 30, was unseen for most of yesterday.

She spent the afternoon in Hawkes Bay, according to reports.

Tindall, the captain of the England rugby team, is preparing for their next World Cup rugby match. They play Romania at Otago Stadium tomorrow and Ms Phillips is expected to attend.

The Queen's granddaughter - who is believed to have stayed at Muriwai, west of Auckland, before leaving the city yesterday - stunned staff at the Gintrap Napier Cafe and Bar when she casually walked in with two female friends.

Manager Vaughan Wilson said: "It was pretty nice weather in Hawkes Bay today so she was enjoying the sunshine out on the deck and had lunch with two ladies, I'm not sure who they were. They sat down for about an hour, had some lunch and wine and looked pretty relaxed and happy,"

She ate a calamari salad and had a glass of wine, although he did not know whether it was a local one.

There had been talk in equestrian circles that Ms Phillips may use some of her time in New Zealand to buy horses after retiring her event horse last month.