A Gold Coast man and his son-in-law have overcome freezing Arctic winds and treacherous ice to write their names into the history books.
Geoff Wilson and Simon Goodburn are winding their way back to civilisation after successfully crossing Greenland from south to north in a remarkable 18 days.
The pair had left the frozen island's southern edge last month with the goal of eclipsing the 2010 record of 42 days for a south-to-north crossing.
In less than three weeks, however, the pair have become the first Australians to complete the feat and, pending verification, have smashed the previous record.
"It was amazing really because we're a bit of ducks out of water against the Scandinavians in this environment," Mr Wilson told AAP from Greenland.
"To come to Greenland and absolutely smash their record is amazing really."
Mr Wilson said the relationship with his son-in-law had endured through the expedition, culminating in a gruelling 15-hour final day where the pair had descended a 5000-ft (1525 metre) glacier to reach their finish line.
"Nat Geo have commissioned a documentary for the journey and, from a film point of view, the producers and everyone were hoping there'd be some big bust-up between father-in-law and son-in-law on camera," he said.
"We got on famously and we've got a very unusual relationship in that we're very open and honest. There was a few F-bombs let go and then a few explanations as to why and we worked through things very well.
"I think it's strengthened the relationship rather than destroyed it."
The pair are now heading to a rendezvous with a sled dog team to return to the nearest settlement, where they'll begin their journey home.
"That was a very, very tough 18 days," Mr Wilson said.
"Not a lot of sleep had ... it's not as long as other journeys but emotionally taxing."
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