Greek adventure

Peter Maneas spent his childhood between Greece and Australia. He tells DANIELLE MCGRANE how he’s sharing some of the European country’s hidden gems in his show My Greek Odyssey.

What inspired you to make this show?

I’ve been travelling to Greece since I was 10. My mother took me there when I was 10 and we spent a considerable amount of the year there. I took my textbooks and studied there. I stayed with cousins on the mainland in Athens and on the island of Kythera, where my family is from. My Greek language was very poor at first, but after about nine months I came back and my language was great. So I had a bit of a cultural revolution.

A cultural revolution, what do you mean?

I’d been living in Australia, with a Greek family, in an Australian-Anglo Saxon environment. In going to Greece I saw that other side that my parents had been impressing on me and I saw it in every day life; the food, the culture, the depths of history. When you go to a small island there are 2000-year-old ruins there. I’m a closet archaeologist and you’ll see that in the show.

So where did you get the idea for the TV show?

In the past eight years I’ve spent a lot of northern summers there and I’m privileged to own a superyacht, so I’ve seen things that are amazing but that people aren’t aware of. Most people know Greece because of the top five island – Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu, Crete and Rhodes. They’re full of tourists and developed to suit the tourist environment, but there are 227 inhabited Greek islands. The infrastructure is brilliant, the ferries run on time, there are a number of airports on these islands and there are some islands where you won’t see a single tourist. Every single Greek island has its own personality. They all have their provincial dishes. We see different architecture and we talk about history, geography and beaches. I’ve met a whole lot of smart people who understand the history and take me through the history.

Did you learn a lot that you didn’t already know while making the show?

Yes, absolutely. There’s so much to see and not everything gets on the show because we’ve only got so much time. I was lucky enough to be at the raising of the flag at the Acropolis which they do on a Sunday morning. The presidential guards go up there and march and play the national anthem, but there’s nobody else up there, they close it to tourists, but I was there and I filmed it. My researcher is visiting the island of Kos for series three, which we’re filming this year.

How do you prepare for the show?

People visit the islands before I get there. My sister, who has a PhD does a lot of research, we know a lot of people and talk to people before we go. We meet people who have been living there a long time. There’s a lot that goes into it. The captain on my boat, who has been everywhere, is also very knowledgeable.

What makes this travel show different to others?

What we’ve done nobody else has ever done: anyone who owns a superyacht, the last thing they want to do is spend 12 hours a day filming.

Is there a part of you that wants to keep these hidden gems still hidden so they won’t be spoilt by tourism?

I’ve thought about that, but Greece is going through hard times and people need to see the real Greece. I’m not sponsored, I do this of my own accord with my own funds. And if we can help balance the tourist population, and get them going to the islands that are in need of some income, but don’t crowd them, I think that is something I’d like to give back to Greece. My parents worked hard and came to Australia with nothing and worked to make sure I was educated along my two sisters, so it’s time to give back to Greece. My Greek Odyssey Sunday, March 31, 5pm on Seven