Nord news

6
It has been over 10 years since I visited Australia,
a long time to be away from immediate family,
friends and such a beautiful country.
I first migrated to Australia in 1973 with my four
brothers leaving our three sisters and parents
behind. It was our responsibility to financially
support the family and Cyprus had little
opportunities for employment at the time. It
turned out to be the right move as 1 year later
Cyprus was invaded and we immediately arranged
for our sisters and parents to join us in Australia.
Migrating to Australia was not easy particularly
because of the English language which was
unknown to us at the time. Nevertheless, the
opportunities were there and amongst all the other
migrants, we managed. Within a little time we
got together a home and slowly, slowly over the
years each one of us built a family and home of
our own. In 1993, my wife and I decided to
return to Cyprus with our three sons.
Wanting to visit Australia was always on my mind
but it was not an easy decision to make. The distance
was always one of the obstacles I encountered when
trying to decide, as well as the expense of flying there.
It took me approximately six months to get my act
together and once I finally picked up the phone and
booked my flight, then it was only a countdown to
the big day - Thursday June 22, 2006! I was ready to
fly back to Australia.
The journey is a 20 hour flight with a stopover in
Bahrain and Singapore when flying with Gulf
Air. For most people just the thought of flying
NORD NEWS Autumn 2006
Jimmy goes “Down Under”
By Demetris Theouli
for so many hours puts them off the whole idea
of visiting this faraway continent. Not for me!
My two brothers Andreas and Louis were at
Sydney airport to meet me. They took me to see
my parents and to my great surprise not only did
I see my parents but they held a surprise
welcoming for me and I saw lots of familiar faces
I hadn't seen for years. This was a very emotional
time for me. It turned out to be a great party.
The first weekend arrived and we organized to go
sightseeing. We walked through the beautiful
greenery of the Botanical gardens, visited
Circular Quay, Harbour Bridge and had a nice
lunch outside the Opera House. These are the
main attractions of Sydney for any tourist to visit.
In the week to come I had a family wedding to
attend to which was something I looked forward
to very much. My nephew was getting married.
This was a big family event.
Spending time with family was what I enjoyed most.
Seeing my parents again, reminiscing the good times
and telling them our news from Cyprus over lunch
or dinner. All the other family team members were
busy with their daily routines, mainly at work. So I
took the time to visit my brother Andreas at his
confectionary factory and my sister Penny at her
Charcoal Chicken Restaurant.
Time passed rather quickly for me and it was most
enjoyable. When I shall return again to Australia, I
do not know. However, the next time I would like
to take all of my family back so that it will be
a nice "family" holiday.
The Darling Harbour