February 22, 2012
Travel Through The New England Tablelands
If you happen to be in the New England Tablelands on your travels thru Australia with Campervan Hire Sydney, you can check out a living museum, aka a Chinese store which serviced the tin mining community of Tinga in the 1880's. The store was still operational up to 1998, when it was acquired and turned into a living museum of a country regional store, particularly one which was owned and run by the Chinese for many generations.
After tin was found in Tingha in 1870, the town had a top population of about 5,000 people by 1880. Chinese merchants gravitated to the site and the store originally serviced the chinese population through till 1918 when it turned into a general store for the entire communty of Tingha. As the tin deposits declined and then ran out, the population of Tingha steadily decreased to it's present compliment of 700 folks.
The store nonetheless continued on till 1998 before closing. What remains is similar to a microcosm of life in Tingha over a long period, demonstrated by the contents of the shop, for example chemist supplies, Chinese herbal expert, groceries, mining apparatus, (including explosives), haberdashery, hardware and ladies wear.
You can actually see what groceries were for sale from about 1950 thru to 1998 "even old clothes patterns from back in the 1950's and 1960's. The store has been saved precisely as it was when it closed and shows what life was like in a small rustic country mining town and it is truly interesting to see how the products for sale increased in scope over the years.
This often occurred from 1918, when Jack Joe Lowe and his wife Fong Quain acquired the store. She also ran a local cafe and all five of their kids worked in both businesses as a family enterprise. So if the history buff in you is in any way interested, stop and have a look at evolution in action.
This draft was authored by Anton Maverick who has travelled Australia at length by campervan he reccomends when touring the southern states either campervan Hire Australia or campervan hire Melbourne good luck with your travels.
Filed under Whale Watching Tours by jenny