Emma Maidment and Tyson Venables left Byron Bay for the foothills of Mount Kedros, where they are learning to grow grapes, make wine and build a different kind of family life.
Golden eagles soar over the Kedros mountain range, riding thermals rising from a pristine landscape. This is rural Crete at its most iconic, where nature and agriculture, amidst the rugged limestone peaks, have defined a way of life largely unchanged for generations. North of Spili, towards the Amari Valley, the Kedros foothills reveal a landscape that is both harsh and beautiful: hidden plateaus with meadows painted by a cornucopia of vibrantly colored wildflowers, olive groves, orchards and vineyards.
If there was ever a place to reinvent yourself and find inspiration, this is it.
Emma Maidment and Tyson Venables thought so too. Two years ago, the Australian couple moved from Byron Bay in New South Wales to Crete with their two young sons, now five and almost three, to follow the old ways and become self-taught winemakers. They call their venture into viticulture “Kairos,” from the Ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment, when conditions align.
And it’s a concept that underpins their approach not just to winemaking, but life itself. The conditions aligned for Emma and Tyson to migrate from Byron Bay, on the coast of New South Wales, to Crete in 2024.
