As 11-year-old Oliver Godson scrambles onto the top of Mt Kosciuszko and holds his unicycle over his head, he feels a sense of relief and pride.
The determined young athlete has ridden with his dad, Lloyd Godson, on a 260-kilometre "sea to summit" unicycle expedition, with a total elevation gain of around 5,500 metres, finishing at Australia's highest point.
A day before the finish, he was so exhausted he wasn't sure if he could continue.
"Having the whole family there, it was really special.
"If I had not finished it, I would have really regretted it."
Lloyd Godson, a Port Macquarie secondary school teacher with a background in marine biology, says it was a memorable and challenging experience to share with his son.
"I was just super proud and impressed with how Oliver tackled the whole thing ...just watching how he was able to tackle the hills was incredible," he said.
"To do what he did as an 11-year-old, I think it's pretty remarkable."
Mr Godson's wife Carolina Sarasiti also did the ride on a two-wheel bicycle, towing their five-year-old daughter, Ariadne, in a bike trailer.
"The last kilometre and a half [up the Mt Kosciuszko trail] you aren't allowed to ride bicycles or anything, so we just carried our unicycles and bikes to the top and had a celebration up there.
"Everyone feels pretty proud of themselves."
Sea to summit
The family started out at Tathra on the New South Wales south coast, having made a last-minute decision, due to rising COVID-19 case numbers, not to do a planned ride across Tasmania.
"We only had a few days to map out a new route and try and avoid as many major roads as possible, but it was really busy on the south coast in early January," Mr Godson said.
"As soon as we got further west, people were a lot more accommodating of us on the road and stopped to have a yarn and that kind of thing."
Mr Godson says they had trained hard for the trip and spaced the ride over 12 days.
He says the weather and mountainous terrain posed challenges.
"We rode through a thunderstorm and torrential rain; we had a lot of rain on the trip, and wind," he said.
'In so much pain': kindness pulls them through
Mr Godson says the final two days were the most challenging for Oliver.
"He would ride for a couple of kilometres and then hop off and have his head on his legs."
Oliver says it was a huge mental challenge.
"I was just in so much pain and I was really tired," he said.
Support came just at the right time in the form of good friends from Port Macquarie, Jodie and Simone Feeney and their children- including Oliver's best mate Ollie — who surprised Oliver by meeting him on the road.
It brought tears to his eyes.
"They came out behind us on an electric skateboard ... and Oliver turned around and his jaw almost hit the ground," Mr Godson said.
"They'd hidden a few packets of Oreos [biscuits] in a snow gum at the end and prepared a picnic platter for us as well."
Strangers also offered high fives and claps along the way.
They now have their sights set on unicycling the challenging and mountainous Tasmanian Trail, which runs from Devonport in the north to Dover in the south-east.
"Tasmania will be a lot harder ... but I am looking forward to it," Oliver said.
