John Griffin took part
in the first Australia Week events on the island, visiting the village
of Mitata, the birthplace of hundreds of Australians of Kytherian descent
Australian Ambassador to Greece, John Griffin
visited Kythera this week to attend the first Australia Week to be held on the
island at the invitation of the island's mayor, Efstratios Charhalakis.
With his partner Pakapat Thipayaprapai, the
ambassador had a jam-packed programme awaiting him starting with a visit to the
open market of Potamos and the City Hall of Kythera.
There they met and exchanged gifts with Mayor
Charhalakis in the presence of the president of the Kytheran Association of
Australia, Victor Kepreotis and other officials and Australians of Kytherian
descent.
Mr Griffin officially opened the photo
exhibition Kytherians Down Under and enjoyed the second Friendship Soccer Match
between teams from Kythera and Australia at the Panagiotis Magiros soccer
field.
He also met the team from the Australian
Archaeological Institute of Athens at the site of a project being undertaken in
northern Kythera and attended the launch of a renovation project in the village
of Mitata, where hundreds of Australians of Kytherian descent were born, among
them the father of renowned film director George Miller.
The four-day visit was a chance to celebrate
Australia's strong connection to Kythera, with tens of thousands of Australians
tracing their ancestral connections to the island, and was also the
ambassador's final official commitment in Greece, his term of office drawing to
an end in the coming days.
neoskosmos.com
