As the search for missing Brisbane man Steven Van Lonkhuyzen and his two young sons entered its eleventh day on Sunday, the outlook was unmistakeably grim.
After an extensive ground search, police announced early in the afternoon their next move would be to search from the air but after 11 days lost in the Queensland outback, hopes were fading fast.
So it was, in a week of horrific news, an ebullient Queensland Police Detective Acting Superintendent Owen Elloy who informed the media late Sunday afternoon that Mr Lonkhuyzen, Ethan, 7, and Timothy, 5, would indeed be making it home for Christmas.
"I've been in the police for a long time and it's not often I get up in front of the media and give good news stories," he said.
At about 3.30pm Sunday, an astute grazier discovered the trio in a remote part of the Expedition National Park, south of Emerald, where they had been stranded since December 11.
They were extremely hungry but otherwise unscathed, Acting Superintendent Elloy said.
"They just need a good feed, a drink and a good night's sleep," he said.
Which, the grazier would provide, he said, as police and park rangers worked to extricate Mr Lonkhuyzen's vehicle, which became bogged after heavy rain.
The grazier spotted Mr Van Lonkhuyzen's white Mitsubishi Pajero entering the park 10 days ago and after extensive media coverage urging people to look out for the vehicle in recent days, decided on Sunday to go in search of it.
For Mr Lonkhuyzen and his young sons it was a serendipitous event, according to Acting Superintendent Elloy said.
"Somebody's looking after them," he said.
The area they were discovered, known as the Tin Hut, was one a human footprint has barely touched.
"The Tin Hut, if you searched it on Google you wouldn't find it, it's a piece of land normally visited only by cattle. It's black soil country, very soft, even police officers who are extremely experienced are having trouble getting in there," he said.
He said the trio were "extremely lucky" the grazier had decided to go in search of them, saying he did not want to speculate on what the outcome may otherwise have been.
The heavily forested area would have made even their discovery by air a slim chance, he said.
"They had the common sense to stay with the vehicle, which is a huge point in any survival technique, it's a lot easier to find a car than someone walking," he said.
Mr Lonkhuyzen, Ethan and Timothy left their home at Lota, on Brisbane's bayside, on December 11, intending to arrive in Cairns by December 15, after following an inland route.
The 37-year-old was last seen filling his vehicle at a service station in Miles, 330 kilometres west of Brisbane, that day and is believed to have become stranded in the national park later that day.
His wife and the boys mother raised the alrm when the trio failed to arrive in Cairns by the scheduled date.
The forest where they were discovered is out of mobile phone reception range and only accessible by satellite phone.
Acting Superintendent Elloy said though Mr Lonkhuyzen was experienced in outback travel, he ventured well off track
"I don't think you can ever be 100 per cent prepared going into country like that, even the property owner went in with a huge air of concern and he had his satellite phone with him," he said.
He said the trio would stay overnight with the grazier on Sunday before being reunited with their family.
