Hugs and smiles of relief greeted youngsters who flew into Albury after returning to Australia aboard a P&O ship following a South Pacific misadventure.
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The group of 13 landed at Albury airport aboard a Qantas flight on the afternoon of Thursday, May 23, after an aid trip to Vanuatu, organised by the Albury-based Hive Rotary Club, soured.
"I can't believe we're here," organiser and mentor Kellie Kadaoui said to a welcoming party after walking into the airport terminal with a squad of participants aged 16 to 23.
The return journey was cast into chaos due to the collapse of Air Vanuatu after the team's arrival on the island of Tanna on May 7 to help locals with health issues.
Days of uncertainty followed with appeals for help through Australian media outlets including the ABC and television show The Project.
"It was really difficult," Mrs Kadaoui said.
"The main thing was being able to communicate with people and at the same time we were trying to do that the whole network went down on Tanna."
Thankfully persistence was rewarded, with a trip to the Vanuatu capital Port Vila, where they boarded the cruise ship to Sydney with an island stop-off en route.
"We got a chartered flight thanks to Vanuatu Travel, we got P&O, we got Qantas to fly us home without charging us," Mrs Kadaoui said.
"There was a lot of work to get us to there."
Among the grateful Paying it Forward crew were exchange students from Denmark and Germany who have been attending classes at Albury High School.
Daniel Larsen, from Aarhus, was at ease with the drama.
"I was never worried," Daniel said.
"I was trusting in Rotary and that Kellie could get us home.
"I just went with the flow and focused on helping the people (with wound care and male body information).
"Of course it's sad we had to cut the program short, but we were able to help some people at least."
Romy von Olearius, from Germany's north-west coast, said while it was initially "kind of funny to say we're stranded on a Pacific island" it got more "stressy" when there was a possibility of not being able to leave until June.
"There was talk that we would not be able to get a flight until the 9th and my flight home (to Germany) is on the 15th of June," Romy said.
Nevertheless, the year 12 student appreciated the eventual sea voyage.
"The cruise was very nice, it was pretty cool to have something of such luxury after sleeping on the floor for two weeks," Romy said.
Mrs Kadaoui, whose daughter Ruby was among the participants, lauded the resilience of the young people.
"I think they loved it," she said.
"They were so happy sleeping in tents on Tanna during the work but they were just as happy sitting in Jacuzzis on the ship relaxing.
"They are an amazing group of young adults, I could not fault them."
Without the passing cruise ship, the group would have been waiting until May 28 for the next available flight.
