He lived in two homelands, and called them both home

It takes great strength of spirit for someone to have two homelands… Sydney, Australia may have been George Vamvoukakis’ second home for decades, but his first was in Heraklion, Crete. It was there, in 1947, that the islander first saw “the light” of the Greek sun. But the Cretan didn’t stay there. He married, became a father, moved to Athens, and lived through the events of the Polytechnic uprising first-hand. He played backgammon with Mimis Traiforos and football with Muammar Gaddafi as referee. When the “flame” of migration was kindled inside him, he didn’t hesitate to emigrate to the lush green lands of New Zealand. There, as a teacher, he honoured Greece’s Independence Day in Wellington with a memorable student parade along the now-historic Chania Street. Deep down, George always knew: twice blessed is the one who comes to love two homelands.