Around Nick Kotaras’s island home the sea constantly changes with the tides, and to one side a mountain range stretches from north to south.
As he chats with friends, smoke from lamb cooking on a fire swirls everywhere.
You might think Mr Kotaras lives on a Greek island, but he lives 235 kilometres north of Adelaide on Weerona Island, just outside Port Pirie.
Mr Kotaras’s family is from the Greek islands of Crete, Samos, Kastellorizo, and Hydra.
His father was born in Australia after his grandparents emigrated here in the 1920s, and his mother arrived in the 1950s.
“A lot of Greeks came here to work in the smelters. They came here through working on the ships … and a lot of people came here to farm,” Mr Kotaras said.
He grew up in Port Pirie and joined the navy when he was 18 years old.
“I’ve travelled all over the world. It took me 38 years to come back home,” he said.
“[My family] are all islanders, and I’ve ended up on an island anyway. So it must be in my blood.
“This is my happy place.”
A new home for Hellenes
The Greek Community of Port Pirie was established in 1924, making it South Australia’s oldest Greek community club and Australia’s second oldest at 100 years.
For its centenary, more than 350 people attended a ball this past weekend at Pirie’s Northern Festival Centre.
A service was then held Sunday morning at the local church led by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Primate and Exarch of all Oceania, and His Grace Bishop Silouan of Sinope.
Community member Peter Tsoukalas grew up in Pirie but moved to Adelaide for work.
He said his grandfather, Apostoli Fountas, was 12 years old when he reluctantly emigrated to Australia in 1924 with his sister from Makri in Asia Minor, in modern day Türkiye.
“[On] the day of leaving it’s known that he ran away,” Mr Tsoukalas said.
“The boat was leaving and they couldn’t find him, but he was hiding in the church.”
He eventually warmed to Australia, as Mr Tsoukalas said his grandfather later helped other relatives move to Australia.
“My grandfather was the first. Any other Fountas who has come here has been from him sponsoring them,” Mr Tsoukalas said.
Growing up, he said he “didn’t realise how important Pirie was” for SA’s Greeks.
“If you go to Adelaide, everywhere you speak to somebody … they all have a connection here,” Mr Tsoukalas said.
“This was the epicentre.”
Pirie’s Greek club used to hold Greek school functions, Greek national day celebrations, and other community events.
The club now hosts fortnightly dinners that anyone can attend.
Pat Coomblas still donates homemade Greek sweets for the dinners.
Her family ended up in and around Port Pirie by accident.
Leaving Samos in 1955, they moved to Willochra. Soon after, they decided to move to Adelaide.
“Halfway [to Adelaide] … we stopped to change trains,” Ms Coomblas said.
“This Greek chap … John Kortessis, he passed through for work and he heard us talking Greek, so he stopped us from going anywhere [and] said: ‘You’re going to stay here.’
“He’s from Samos too. My mum knew his family so we ended up staying in Pirie.”
Ms Coomblas’ parents bought a farm in Nelshaby, 10 minutes north-east of Pirie, and Ms Coomblas lives there on a market garden to this day.
‘You’re on a corner, you gotta be a Greek’
Between Weeroona Island, Nelshaby, and Pirie on the Augusta Highway is Harry’s Homemade Fine Foods, which still embodies the Greek migrant work ethic.
Archie Kambanos still runs his late father’s shop with his family and said his father was one of the “visionaries”.
“Dad left Greece in 1964 — civil war, politics — and moved out to Peterborough,” he said.
“He thought there was more to Australia than living in Peterborough so they picked up the house, loaded it on a truck, and settled in Nelshaby and started a market garden.
“[He] was selling fruit and veg off this corner in 1969.
“When you’ve come from a place where there’s not much room to move, with bad government, civil wars, the ‘out’ of moving to Australia was like winning the lotto.”
Mr Kambanos said the shop’s location was “a talking point”.
“It’s funny because I get asked, ‘You’re on a corner, you gotta be a Greek’,” he said.
“Sometimes I catch people speaking Greek in here and it’s like ‘Where are you guys from?’, and [they’re from] all over Australia.”
Honouring family, honouring friends
So what has held this community together for 100 years?
Nick Kotaras said it was one word handed down for generations.
“Filotimia,” he said.
Filotimia is a Greek word made up of “filo”, meaning friend or loving, and “timi”, meaning honour.
It means “love of honour” but there is no direct English translation.
“[Filotimia] is doing the right thing because you want to. You want to help someone not because you want anything back from it — you’re doing it from the goodness of your heart,” Mr Kotaras said.
“If you haven’t got filotimo, you’re not a Greek.
“These are the values we grew up with.
“We’re well connected, and we hold on strong to our heritage.”