The 25-year-old Auckland bartender stopped for a night at his aunt Vicky Chamber's house in Outram on Tuesday, en route to Bluff where, on Friday, he finished his cycle tour from Cape Reinga.
He said cycling over the Kilmog and the Northern Motorway into Dunedin had been one of the most gruelling stretches in his 2670km ride, which started on September 16.
So the Outram road sign was a welcome sight, he said.
Mr O'Malley has cycled the length of New Zealand to raise funds for his cousin Jack, in Adelaide, who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) three years ago.
Watching his 8-year-old cousin dying from the disease had been difficult, and it was one of the things he used as inspiration, to push him onward as he neared the end of his journey.
DMD is a recessive X-linked form of muscular dystrophy, affecting about one in 3600 boys, and results in muscle degeneration and eventual death.
Most do not survive past their teenage years.
Mr O'Malley said Jack was 5 when he was first diagnosed, and recalled seeing the boy have his cramping legs massaged hard every night to loosen them.
It was ''totally heart-breaking'' listening to the boy crying himself to sleep, he said.
These days, he is confined to a wheelchair.
Mr O'Malley has raised almost $20,000 for people with DMD, but he was realistic about his effort to find a cure for Jack.
''We hope that the children with Duchenne can benefit now, but the reality may be that future generations will be the ones who can walk into their adulthood and live long and full lives.
''I have already been run off the road by a lorry and scared myself half to death cycling through the night, but if I am able to bring hope or save a single life, then it will all be worth it.''
