'Icy' Kiwi is living in NZ

The Kiwi who kept his dead girlfriend on ice in a Los Angeles hotel for almost a year is back at his parents' house in Queenstown - enjoying lamb and mashed potato.

Stephen Royds, 49, served half his four-year sentence in a US jail after pleading guilty to two drugs charges.

He was not charged in relation to hoarding the body of Monique Felicia Trepp, 33, who died of a drug overdose, according to a post-mortem examination.

Police found her body after arresting Royds for possession of 54g of cocaine and executing a search warrant at his room at the Fairmont Hotel in Newport, where he had been living long-term.

His mother Sally Royds has been reported as saying she had not seen her son since he returned to New Zealand.

But last night she said he arrived in Queenstown last week.

She and her husband John Royds, a former Queenstown Deputy Mayor, had not seen him in 22 years.

"I'm happy to have him home. He's just like I remember," she said.

Royds added that she has been cooking all his favourites, including lots of lamb and mashed potatoes.

"It's what he was brought up on, Kiwi food."

She said her son was enjoying being back at home with his family and has not decided which direction to take his life in.

"He's just getting oriented and finding his feet in the real world," she said.

"He'll stay in New Zealand and think about what he wants to do. He's a grown man now."