Zorba Waterfront Motel celebrates 50 years

If the walls of Zorba Waterfront Motel on the Batemans Bay foreshore could speak, they would describe watching a tourism town appear around them and of thousands of visiting guests from all around the world. They would talk of a certain long-lost lover arriving in 1975 and moving straight in. They would talk of upgrades to the foreshore, Orient Street, two new bridges and three internal renovations. Most of all, they would talk of four generations of the Diacomihalis family, who have owned and operated the motel since it first opened its doors on December 18, 1972.

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Manager Justine Diacomihalis' father Michael and grandfather Nicolas moved to Australia - the 'lucky country' - to live and work and support their family back home in Greece. They knew very little English, and had little education.

They started two takeaway shops, one after the other, in South Australia and Victoria, but had to sell off both when they became unsuccessful.

While working in Mount Gambier, Michael met Barbara Maynard and was instantly smitten. They dated for a while, however Michael's father forbade the relationship, and ordered him return to Greece to marry a Greek woman.

Newly married, Michael returned to Australia, working in Bombala. However when the marriage broke down in 1967, he moved with his father to Batemans Bay.

"He recognised Batemans Bay as a potential tourist town," Ms Diacomihalis said.

"Dad felt like he had failed. He'd already tried twice to open businesses. He wanted to try third-time-lucky."

Together they bought the block of land that was the old ocean pool on the foreshore for $15,000 in the late 1960s.

The pair began with what they knew, opening a takeaway shop on the site of what is now Nova's Pies and Kebabs.

Father and son would work 18 to 20 hours a day pumping out fish and chips and burgers. They had a breakthrough; the business boomed, so they decided to expand, identifying a gap in the market.

Zorba Waterfront Motel was opened. At the time, there were no other motels south of the Clyde River, which could only be crossed by barge.

Ms Diacomihalis' aunt and uncle migrated from Greece and joined the family business.

As the business flourished and Michael experienced success, his mind flitted back, as it always had over many years, to a certain South Australian girl.

"He had always wondered how his first love was going," Ms Diacomihalis said.

Michael decided to put an advertisement in the Mount Gambier Border Watch paper asking for a certain Barbara Maynard to get into contact with Michael Diacomihalis.

To his luck, she responded.

"He told her he had always just still loved her and thought about her. Would she consider coming up to Batemans Bay and starting a life with him?" Ms Diacomihalis said.

A few weeks later, in 1975, Barbara arrived on the Zorba Waterfront Motel doorstep with a single red suitcase, her Pomeranian Honey and her cat Whitey.

At the time, Ms Diacomihalis said the motel was run by a team of Croatian women who worked at the motel for more than 20 years. They were, "the backbone of the hotel - the workhorses. Without them, the hotel never would have grown into what it is today," she said.

The motel started with 13 rooms, with four more added in the late 80s.

Ms Diacomihalis has been involved in the business since she was 18. Her daughter Violetta, who works at reception, is the fourth generation of Diacomihalis to help out the business.

On December 18, the Zorba Waterfront Motel had a birthday celebration, 50 years after first opening the doors.

Michael, now 83, flew in from Greece to attend a celebratory lunch on the grass overlooking the foreshore, joined by old staff members, tradies and some much-returning loyal customers.

While the Zorba Waterfront Motel has always been run by the Diacomihalis clan, the 50^th birthday celebrated the entire motel family.