Otago captain Craig Cumming made his way through a crowd of about 150, holding aloft the State Shield trophy, while a pipe band played in the background.
Coach Mike Hesson was close behind. "It was a pretty special occasion coming off the plane and being confronted with that,'' Hesson said, with a slight quiver in his voice.
‘‘To have all those supporters there was fantastic.''
Otago won its first one-day title in 20 years when it outclassed Auckland by seven wickets in the final at Eden Park Outer Oval on Sunday.
The celebrations went long into the night. But with Otago resuming its four-day campaign with a match against Northern Districts in Invercargill on Thursday, the side gets back to the serious business of training and working on winning its next title.
The Dunedin City Council is planning to celebrate Otago's success with a reception at the municipal chambers next Tuesday.
Cr Neil Collins said the cricketing community, and especially members of the last victorious Otago team, would be invited to an event organised ‘‘just to say how thrilled we are for them''.
