The award-winning journalist arrived home in Brisbane in the early hours of Thursday morning after more than a year in an Egyptian jail.
In his first interview with an Australian TV network, Mr Greste told SBS Dateline reporter Meggie Palmer that he had initially thought he would be free within hours.
Even in prison, he didn’t believe his ordeal would stretch out beyond a few days.
“I really didn’t feel that this was going to be the ordeal that it ultimately turned into,” he said.
Joining the Al Jazeera Cairo bureau on a temporary fill-in assignment, Mr Greste said he knew not to push the boundaries and test authorities in an unfamiliar news environment.
He said it was just an ordinary news day when authorities kicked down his door.
“I’m not sure I can even remember the story we were doing,” he said.
“I was going that day to have dinner with a friend and I got this knock on the door. The door sort of burst open and these guys flooded in and started searching the place.
“They refused to tell me what it was about.”
Mr Greste said he was marched to a police area, before being taken to a crowded police cell and eventually the “big sprawling complex” of the Egyptian jail system.
‘We didn’t expect to be found guilty’
When the guilty verdict was returned, Mr Greste said he was “gutted”.
“We didn’t expect to be found guilty,” he said.
“We had even made plans, holiday plans… We were absolutely certain we were going to walk on that day.
“We all went back to the cell and sat down with some very serious questions in our own minds.”
He was sentenced to serve seven years in prison after being convicted of broadcasting false news and aiding a terrorist organisation
His Al Jazeera colleagues Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed remain in prison in Cairo, on seven and 10 year sentences respectively.
Mr Greste told SBS he knew he would be vindicated “eventually”, but until then it was a matter of surviving prison.
He said there were some good days – “you can’t go 400 days being depressed” – but he and his colleagues made a point of acknowledging and processing negative thoughts.
“I found a lot of strength in Buddhist philosophy that talks about living very much for the moment,” he said.
“That’s what we found, if you focused on just getting through the daily routines… you could not enjoy yourself, but have a good day.”
‘You learn things about yourself that you didn’t realise’
While Mr Greste wouldn’t describe the experience as positive, he told SBS that he did grow from his time in prison.
“You discover things within yourself,” he said.
“Anyone who goes through a difficult experience – and every one of us does in our lives – you learn things about yourself that you didn’t realise. That’s what happened for us. I realised I was a lot stronger.”
Mr Greste said the pressure he was under while serving his sentence was “unexpectedly positive”.
“I’m not trying to put a positive spin on this,” he said.
“But you also need to recognise that these types of experiences can sometimes bring out things that you never would have anticipated.”
‘It was just too overwhelming for words’
Mr Greste has made global headlines since he was released and deported on Sunday, though he is yet to adjust to the support.
After facing cheering crowds at Brisbane airport, he told SBS that the international campaign for his release and those of his colleagues was overwhelming.
“I thought that there may be a dozen cameras or so, but to see that massive crowd, it was just too overwhelming for words and frankly, deeply humbling,” he said.
“The thing about this is that we’ve been stuck in the middle, in the eye of the hurricane. We’ve been isolated from all this energy, all of this activity. We know it’s been revolving around us but we’ve been completely disconnected from it.
“To all of a sudden to step into that vortex and get a sense of just how huge this was, it is really quite impressive and very humbling.”
Mr Greste had previously fronted a press conference in Brisbane, where he told journalists that he didn’t want to give up his job as a foreign correspondent.
But first, the award-wining journalist is enjoying the small things.
“The first thing Mike and I did was find a restaurant that did roast pork and beer.”
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
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