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 καιρός, 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. 

The one-stremma (0.1 hectares) vineyard they bought comprises 240 vines perched on the western slopes of the Kedros mountains and came already stocked with 15-year-old organic Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot vines. While they plan to grow Cretan native varieties in the future, “it was a plot that was available at the right price and in the right location,” says Tyson. “We just fell in love with the landscape and the area’s tranquility.” 

For Emma, an internationally published author and podcast producer, the move was inseparable from the ideas explored in her 2024 book Find Your Flow, written after her own health challenges and the experience of motherhood. Its central idea – learning to respond to life rather than simply react to it – became the family’s guiding principle.

“The lessons in the book are about building a relationship with yourself, one strong enough to trust your intuition. When this internal connection is mastered, life opens surprising doors,” says Emma. “It’s this philosophy that’s led us here – to do something many would see as wild and crazy. But when you’re ‘in the flow’, it makes complete sense.”

They’re learning winemaking as they go, they admit. In their first year, almost half their crop was lost to mildew. 

“This year is showing a lot more promise, as we’ve had a full season to work the land,” says Emma. “It didn’t help that in the spring of 2025 Tyson suffered an Achilles tendon injury that needed hospitalization and months of recuperation.” 

Navigating the Greek healthcare system for the first time as non-Greek speakers was a challenge, but it also revealed their adopted community’s natural filoxenia – the act of being a friend to a stranger. “What was really surprising was all the people who showed up for us; my nail lady even brought us meals!” 

And the children, how are they adapting to the cultural shift after two years? 

“Our eldest is going to kindergarten, and both are learning Greek. We all are, but siga siga as they say. The youngest is now almost three, and he’s already more Greek than Australian. He saw a video of a kangaroo the other day, and he’s like, ‘What’s that?’ Where we lived in Australia, we had kangaroos in the backyard.”

On top of parenting and tending the vines, Emma and Tyson continue to run the businesses they brought with them from Down Under: consultancy work building online brands and implementing AI and automation systems for businesses. Mentoring in the “mindset and wellness” space also keeps them busy.

Beyond the obvious attractions of a life close to nature in the southern Mediterranean, what else brought them to Europe? 

“Things are changing in Australia,” says Emma. “A lot of young entrepreneur families are leaving, looking for places that support the way they want to live – the legacy they want to leave their children.”

Winemaking is just the start. The couple are developing an ambitious integrated land, property and wellness project – Crete Projects – three interconnected ventures “under one ecosystem” as described in its marketing. Still in its foundation phase, the initiative has ambitions to develop premium family accommodation in restored village properties, integrated with wellness and regenerative agriculture. Currently inviting expressions of interest from investors, a legal entity is being established, and land-sourcing is underway.

“Our intention isn’t to gentrify a village; it’s to honor its community and history,” says Tyson, who accepts that achieving cohesion between the local community and the project’s target demographic – “location-independent families, entrepreneurs, and people living unconventional lives” – is key to the project.

“Depopulation in rural Crete isn’t a new problem, says Tyson. “It’s been happening for decades, with young people leaving and often properties falling into disrepair. Our priority is not commercial success, though the projects must be viable economically; it’s also about creating benefits for the existing village residents.”

Tyson spent 20 years in the building industry in Australia, and it’s a background which he says makes him approach the project “through two lenses: the physical build-quality and the human experience.”

“Crete Projects is committed to ensuring that employment opportunities that come because of the initiative are given to local suppliers. Where we have the capacity, we also want the accommodation and facilities we create to be accessible and affordable to local people.”

Still in its infancy, Crete Projects remains an ambitious vision, and Emma and Tyson are determined to grow it gradually. 

“We’re hoping to start with one or two properties in a single village. If we get it right in one place, expansion then becomes possible.”

You can follow Emma and Tyson’s journey as winemakers and Crete Projects’ progress on Instagram @kairoswine and @creteprojects