We met Mr Lambros Nassiokas at Princes Pier, the old port of the Victorian capital where ships such as "Patris", "Ellinis", "Äustralis" with thousands of European migrants were arriving for decades.
Mr Nassiokas arrived with “Patris” in 1965, the year he finished his high school year in Greece. He was only 16 years old when his parents, his brother, and his sister embarked for Australia.
Mr Nasiokas told SBS Greek that his family had to work and save for years in order to pay the fees for "Patris".
"Patris". Source: Facebook: Early Greek Australians
"The journey cost five thousand pounds, for all the five of us," he says.
The journey with "Patris" lasted four weeks. "I remember our first stop at the port of Suez in Egypt. The weather was so hot, perhaps too hot!"
Their next stop was Western Australia’s Perth where the worst part of the journey took place.
"We were traveling from Perth to Melbourne, the weather was so bad, the ocean waves were hitting the shipwreck and we all got sick. We thought that the ship would sink and we would die."
Fortunately, all went well and the Nassiokas family arrived safely in Melbourne.
"I remember it was raining and it was cold. My uncle came and took us to his house, which was not far from the port, on Bay Street in Port Melbourne."
Lambros Nassiokas. Source: SBS Greek
That was the beginning of a new era for Mr Nassiokas family.
"In the beginning, our life here has been difficult. We didn't speak English. But we did our best, we learned the language, we worked hard, we are healthy and we are still here."
It was 1968, and just three years after he set foot in Australia, Mr Nassiokas and several other Greek migrants founded the Port Melbourne Sharks soccer team, widely known "Nea Ellas ". He brought to Australia his passion for soccer from Greece.
The first time he visited Greece was in 2019, and 54 years after his arrival in Australia.
"When I got off the plane, I felt like crying. I didn't know many people in Greece and many of our relatives have already died."
In his village, in Karditsa’s Argithea, only five houses are remaining. "Everyone is gone", Mr Nassiokas told SBS Greek.
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Argithea village, Karditsa region, Greece. Source: argithea.com
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