Haralambos Rallis is one for the record books.

At 102, he’s the oldest person in Europe to renew his drivers licence. He has no intention of giving up the wheel and no need to, he says.

“My mind works like clockwork, I have no health problems, my life goes on,” he tells Neos Kosmos during his annual trip to Sydney.

Even when he goes to get his renewal at the Greek transport department, he lines up next to ailing 70 and 80-year-olds more than 20 years his junior.

He’s fit, he’s healthy and says he feels like he’s 30 years old, despite being born in 1914.

Mr Rallis continues to drive for simple reasons.

“I drive because I have to go to the supermarket, to the cafenio, to the beach – without the car we’re finished,” he says.

“It helps me a lot.”

Mr Rallis is a Peloponnesian local, spending much of his time in the town of Akrata, but has a lasting relationship with Australia.

Mr Rallis came to Australia in 1937 and set himself up in Sydney with just a single suitcase.

He worked in hospitality before he entered the restaurant business himself.

Moving to Melbourne in 1942 after his fish shop burnt down, he set up the café/restaurant Elkon Café in the trendy CBD location of the Royal Arcade.

“It was a restaurant for ladies,” he says.

“We would only serve roast lamb, Yorkshire pudding, roast beef and whiting.

“They were the best years, I even had a girlfriend called Madam Weir. I never had a name with her, it was always ‘my prince’.”

He stayed in Australia, moving back to Sydney to start a motel empire before the itch to return back home came.

He packed up everything a moved back to the motherland in 2000, where he lives the dream retiree life.

Reaching such an age is something that might baffle many, but for Mr Rallis, it’s just a happy consequence of living a healthy life.

“It’s odd for someone to be 102, healthy, to be able to walk… that’s what they keep telling me but it’s just normal for me,” he says.

His advice for those hoping to age as gracefully as him? Everything in moderation.

“In Greek they say, pan metron ariston. A man can do everything but in moderation. They can’t be fat, they can’t smoke, and overall don’t do things that hurt their health,” he says.

He practices what he preaches too. He only seldom eats meat, he doesn’t drink excessively, doesn’t smoke and lives a very active life.

His son Dimitri says his father has never felt that age defined him.

“He’s motivated, he doesn’t give up,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“It’s all psychological. You’ve got to have willpower.”

It also translates to keeping ahead of the curve. Mr Rallis drives a brand new Mercedes, uses his mobile phone expertly and even surfs the web.

“He’s progressive,” his son Dimitri says.

“It’s not very often you find a 102-year-old with an iPhone and an iPad. He has no problem surfing the internet. He’s a learner; if there’s something new he wants to learn it.”

Amazingly, Mr Rallis still travels extensively. Every year since the age of 63, he makes the long haul flight to Australia to visit his “second home”.

“I’m not tired of the travel, I love it.”

It looks like there’s no pause button for Mr Rallis.

“Life goes on,” he says.