Wendy Phillpott, Joanne Charlton, Kerrie Swampillai and Simone Foster were greeted by family and friends as they returned triumphant from an 11-day walk from Surfers Paradise to Sutherland to raise money for the School of St Jude in Tanzania.

``The hardest thing at the end of the day was being so sore and knowing we had to get up and do it all again the next day,'' Ms Phillpott said.

Ms Charlton said: ``We just feel relief and excitement to be back.''

The walking mums planned the event 18 months ago and raised just under $15,000 to help renovate the school, which opened in 2001 with three pupils and now had close to 1000 students.

Ms Foster's husband, John, was part of the support team and said their families were proud of their achievement. ``It was a huge journey and required a lot of mind power. They had to keep pushing through the pain but it was all worth it in the end,'' he said.

What do you think of the mums' effort?