TO the strains of Peter Allen’s I Still Call Australia Home, the two Qantas jets carrying the nation’s most successful Olympics team ever pulled into theSydney airport hangar.

When they finally emerged en masse after the long-haul flight, the tired and happy athletes fell into the arms of tearful family and friends.

Triple gold medal winner Petria Thomas put the experience into words. “Being part of the team is a huge honour to begin with,” she said.

“There are a great number of people who gave the vast majority of their lives to get in the Australian team. The medals get all the focus but being there, competing and playing your part for your country, that’s what counts. The medals are just icing on the cake.”

Family members displayed pride in the athletes and reflected on the hard work it had taken — not just from the athletes — to get to this point.

Cycling’s road race champion Sara Carrigan’s father Jerome, from Nerang on the Gold Coast, took up the sport just so he could train with his daughter. He even won a cycle race in Gunnedah.

“She’s given up everything to do it,” he said. “She never went to a lot of family events (in order) to train. She was always the quiet achiever really, she did what she had to and never complained”.

And to remind everyone that winning gold is sometimes just about relief, were the victorious Kookaburras, who broke Australia’s 48- year hockey hoodoo.

“For the past four years we’ve been weighed down by expectations and this is a relief,” Troy Elder said. “The monkey’s been on our back and his claws went deep but he’s gone now.”

As the team split up to head back to their various states, new reunions awaited.

At Adelaide airport, 2 1/2-year-old Jet Newbery waited excitedly for the arrival of mum Chantelle, who won bronze and Australia’s first diving gold in 80 years, and dad Robert who won two bronzes in synchronised diving.

The family had a tearful reunion, but a couple of Athens 2004 plush toys put the smile back on Jet’s face. The Newberys wanted to go home and change before another flight to Melbourne to appear on The Panel last night.

In Perth, rower Sally Robbins — whose Olympic campaign ended with her eight teammates when she collapsed from exhaustion in the gold medal race of thewomen’s eight — appeared tired but happy to be home.

Asked about her team’s public falling out and public reconciliation, Robbins said: “We love being with each other and we’ll see what happens in the future. It was definitely an emotional time, it’s going to take some time to work things out but I am looking forward to it.”

Brisbane was the final stop for athletes such as Grant Hackett and Jodie Henry.

For Hackett, seeing his family again was wonderful, but according to his father Neville the most important part of the celebrations was waiting at home as part of a feast — specially requested cheesecakes.

Triple gold-medallist Henry was met at the airport by her boyfriend Raymond: “I’ve got a month off, I’m just looking forward to sleeping tonight.”

The athletes will reunite in a fortnight for a tickertape parade in Sydney.

Additional reporting: Andrew McGarry, Duncan MacFarlane, John Stapleton, Dan Box and Paige Taylor