[Vision: Driving through the bush. Mallacoota Wharf sign and people in a boat looking at the pelicans. Girl paddle-boarding as a boat passes by. View of Carol and Paul in front of their new Greek Soul Food trailer.
Carol Nelson
We both like to cook so we thought well let’s do Greek food, so we found a trailer with a spit, we bought it and started doing markets and festivals and we were doing really well. We got a name for ourselves.
Paul Parthenides
We had a slight following.
Carol Nelson
Yeah, and then life changed with the bushfire.
[Vision: Meat cooking on the spit and food being served]
We did the market on the 28th of December.
Paul Parthenides
Yeah, it was about 35 degrees or something like that, it was stinking hot.
Carol Nelson
It was really hot and smoky and quite windy.
Paul Parthenides
Eerie.
Carol Nelson
And really windy it was not nice.
[Vision: Night view of bushfire in the distance across the water. People waiting to evacuate]
And then on the Sunday we got a phone call from someone who’d just left and they said the roads open, you should go, so we did, we went.
It would have been too hard with the evacuation towing the trailer.
We got confirmation that the house had burnt down on the 31st.
Paul Parthenides
Oh, yeah.
Carol Nelson
[Vision: Burnt out remains of Carol and Paul’s house]
Even though you know, it’s not until you physically go and lift the tin and just see the, yeah, it’s very surreal.
Paul Parthenides
You know, you’d seen it on TV.
[Vision: The new Greek Soul Food trailer. In 2020, Carol & Paul received a $50,000 Small Business Bushfire Recovery Grant to purchase a new van for their business Greek Soul Food]
Carol Nelson
[Vision: People at the local kiosk. Carol and Paul speaking in front of their trailer. People walking past the Mallacoota District Bushfire Recovery Hub]
We had a few people say to us why don’t you apply for the Small Business Grant, and we really didn’t have the, I guess, the strength, and then someone said well you can have a financial counsellor if you want and they can go into bat on your behalf as a part of the bushfire recovery.
And he helped us all the way through the process.
[Vision: Close up of the Greek Soul Food sign on the side of the trailer and Paul and Carol entering it and serving food]
We saw the trailer, and since we saw it we went yep, that’s it, and we applied for the grant and got this trailer and it’s Greek Soul Foods part two.
[Vision: Paul cleaning the spit and the menu board showing all foods sold]
There’s a lot of love that goes into it but that’s the concept, soul food, you know, it’s food for the soul.
We all of a sudden find ourselves with a fantastic business.
[Vision: Close up of the Greek Soul Food sign on trailer]
We’ve had so many choices open to us.
Paul Parthenides
I think we’ve bounced back leaps and bounds.
Carol Nelson
We have, we have.
Paul Parthenides
Yeah, we have.
[Vision: Mallacoota jetting with person fishing]
[The Victorian connection - people, communities & the economy. For more news and stories go to connection.vic.gov.au. Victoria State Government - Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne]
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