DEIDRE Coone and daughters Jodie Thompson and Amanda Mahncke have completed an emotional, physical and spiritual journey many years in the making.
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The trio is on the return leg of a journey that involved riding a vintage motor bike the 3975 kilometre distance from Adelaide to Darwin in honour of their husband and father.
Jodie said it was exciting riding into the Qantas Hangar at Darwin on August 24, with the satisfaction of knowing they had completed the ride and fulfilled their dad's dream
"I was a complete and utter nervous wreck, coming into town with no brakes and no gears I didn't feel like I could competently go through the traffic," she said.
Overcoming the obvious challenges Jodie said the moment of completion left them with a big sense of achievement.
"We all lost it, we all just started balling, but through the sad tears were the happy tears, the realisation that we had actually done it, we had made it," she said.
Jodie said they are grateful for the support of people far and wide who without them, turning the Rover dream into a reality wouldn't have been possible.
"There is no way it could have been done with just three of us having a crack, it is far too big for all of that," she said.
"Just thank you to everybody, to the people that have donated and followed us on Facebook. Without your continuous support this wouldn't have been possible."
Jodie and Amanda took it in turns to ride the Rover, with friends Daniel, Colin and Katrina Sargent each riding a bike and Deidre joining the rest of the team of 15 driving the bus.
The shortest day was the first at just 164 km, the longest a tiring 276 km. Jodie said once the team arrived in Coober Pedy it was 'easy riding'.
"Leaving South Australia and heading to the centre it was really red, really straight, it felt never ending at some stages," she said.
The group overcame the negatives by turning to the positives.
"We had a few mechanical break downs, so there was a few times we pulled out the spare motorbike, the one dad rode to Sydney," she said.
"It was pretty awesome to know that it was no longer sitting in the trailer and had become an important part of the trip."
The family decided to raise funds for East Grampians Health Service through the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation Ararat Branch along the way and Jodie is hopeful after having already raised $9,000 they'll reach $10,000.
The trio is now enjoying some well deserved sightseeing via inland New South Wales on their way home.
