Released journalist Peter Greste will want beer and prawns: family

"Well, it certainly is a good morning."

Peter Greste's father Juris summed up his family's mood when on Monday they arrived for the final media conference they might ever need to give.

Their son, an Al-Jazeera reporter who had been imprisoned in a tiny cell in Cairo's Tora Prison for 400 days for simply doing his job, was on his way home.

"I'm ecstatic. I just can't say how happy I am about it," Peter's mother Lois Greste said.

Peter Greste's father Juris, brother Andrew and mother Lois celebrate the journalist's release. Credit: Glenn Hunt/Getty Images

"It's also difficult to realise that this day has actually come. Even though I sort of dreamed about it quietly not daring to think about it too much, it's arrived now."

Peter Greste was deported from Egypt on Sunday night, and is now recovering in Cyprus with his brother Michael.

"[Peter] said it all happened so fast and so quick," Mrs Greste said. "He's still absorbing it all and I think it's going to take him several days."

Mrs Greste said her two sons had enjoyed beer and pork in Cyprus, and Peter would probably want prawns when he arrived in Australia.

Peter Greste's family said the released journalist would be looking forward to beer and prawns at home in Australia.Credit: Glenn Hunt

"There'll be a tear or two shed I think," she said.

"Mum will probably put him over her knee," Juris joked.

Peter Greste's family thanked supporters during the press conference in Brisbane.Credit: Glenn Hunt/Getty Images

When asked when he would return home Mrs Greste replied "when he's ready to come back and not before".

Peter's brother Andrew said the journalist had been in a confined space during his imprisonment and had limited information about was what happening with his case.

"It's going to take him a little bit of time to absorb what has actually occurred and the enormity of what's occurred today and the enormity of the campaign and the amount of support that he's received," he said.

Peter Greste was arrested in late 2013 with two Al-Jazeera colleagues, Egypt bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohammed. They were found guilty of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood after a trial that was widely described as a farce.

It is believed Mr Fahmy, a Canadian, might also be deported in the coming days, but there remains no word on Mr Mohammed's future.

"Peter won't rest until they're released from prison and we hope that will follow in the very near future," Andrew said.

"We do feel very deeply for them," Juris said. "We have met their families. They are lovely people and it is sad that it's happened to them as much as it's been an overwhelming, desperate thing for us too.

The family was effusive in its praise for everyone who had supported Peter, from Australian embassy officials, Peter's legal team and local Cairo fixers to ordinary Australians who had passed on messages of support.

The family described the campaign to free Peter as the biggest challenge of their lives, and Andrew joked that his brother had better not get into any more trouble.

"He only gets one crack at this, only gets one crack at it out of me anyway," he said.