For such a long awaited event, the turn-out at Brisbane International Airport to meet journalist Peter Greste started fairly quietly.

His flight was due at 12:40am (AEST), but by midnight there was just a handful of people waiting for other passengers and a couple of journalists, photographers and camera operators watching for a sign of activity.

Despite the late hour on a weeknight, over the next hour excitement grew, as did the crowd gathered. One group of supporters arrived with "Welcome home, Peter" signs.

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They had travelled from as far as Sydney, joining other supporters from Brisbane and regional Queensland in the arrivals hall.

Many had met Greste at different points in his life, with one group of friends being old mates from his Scouting days.

Michael Rice was one of them.

"We've watched him very carefully with various misadventures throughout his life and this is just another one of them that he seems to have taken very well in his stride," Mr Rice said.

"For the family's sake it's fantastic to have him home."

Camera crews and reporters continued to stream in too and far outnumbered family and friends.

Most of the waiting media have come to know Greste and his family very well over the past 13 months.

Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste is kissed by his mother Lois (L) and father Juris (R) upon his arrival at Brisbane's International Airport in the early hours of February 5, 2015. ( AFP: Patrick Hamilton )

At 1:23am the doors from Customs slid open and Greste was met by a burst of delighted applause, friends calling out his name and shouts of joy.

He and his brother Mike had flown home together and had been escorted from the plane for a family reunion with parents Lois and Juris Greste, brother Andrew and their families. They walked with him as he met with friends and joined a waiting media pack.

Greste's first words spoke volumes about his journey.

"Are you guys waiting for somebody important?"

Yes, they were.

"It's awesome to be home, back on Australian soil and I'm a very, very happy man.

"I didn't think I'd see this day. I imagined it many, many times - about 400 times in fact."

While his world was confined to the walls of Tora Prison, for 400 long days an international campaign has been underway to secure his release.

After more than a year in an Egyptian prison, the journalist had finally set foot on home soil.

"This is a moment that I've rehearsed in my mind over the last 400 days and it feels absolutely awesome to be here," Greste said.

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He is still trying to comprehend the tremendous groundswell of support for his freedom from tens of thousands of people around the world and is determined to keep the attention on his colleagues, journalists Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy, still in prison in Cairo.

"This is all tempered - and I'm going to say this a million times - this is all tempered by a real worry for my colleagues," he said.

"If it's right for me to be free, then it's right for all of us."

Greste will hold a press conference at 10:00am (EST).

"My family have been the rock, the bedrock throughout all of this," he said.

"All I've done is sit in a cell and write a couple of letters. They've been the ones to drive this [and] to be back with them to celebrate this with them has meant the world," he said.

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