During our stay back here in the valley, we took the opportunity to visit the Nundle Chinese Festival, which is held every Easter.
Nundle’s Chinese Heritage
From the 1850’s to the 1880’s thousands of people came to what was then called the Peel River Diggings which incorporated Nundle, Happy Valley, Hanging Rock, and Bowling Alley Point. Among the rush of people were numerous Chinese; most looking for gold, plus a few came to set up stores and gardens to supply the diggers. Illness or accidents took the lives of many searching the hills, and the Bowling Alley Point and Nundle Cemeteries became their final resting-places while the majority left when gold petered out or new fields beckoned. Some stayed on and became a permanent part of Nundle and district history.
The Government Officials on the Gold Fields of the 1860’s to 1880’s were ‘Englishmen’ and had some difficulty with the Chinese language. The names of Chinese miners were simply written down as they sounded; the result was that what was recorded may not have born close resemblance to the actual names! The word ‘Ah’, a term of respect, was often prefixed to the Chinese names when they were recorded in the official documents of the day. |
| Beautiful Autumn Trees - line the streets of Nundle |
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| One of the many market stalls - selling hand dye silk scarves |
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| Chinese Musiician playing the erhu |
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| Chinese Harp |
Many street stalls, give the visitor plenty to see and do. Street musicians with their wonderful Chinese instruments like the erhu and the Chinese harp add a distinct flavour to the day. Many hours can be spent trolling the many goodies in amongst the stalls and the usual wonderful array of antique shops and of course a visit is not complete without a visit to the Nundle Woollen Mills. Take the time to visit the Nundle Broom shop and survey the wonderful array of kitchen implements and the many different types of hand made millet brooms.
Our usual visit to Nundle is never complete without a visit to the Nundle Pub- specially on a Sunday when they serve their roast dinner - oh what a treat that is.
The celebrate the occasion of the Chinese Festival we visited Mr Lee's Stall and Barry had his first taste of a pork bun - oh so many years since I have had one of them.
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| Mr Lees - Pork Buns |
The highlight of the day would be the dance of the dragon.
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| The Mythical Chinese Dragon |
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| Chinese Rhythm Band |
The Chinese Dragon
The dragon, a mythical creature, commands a great deal of respect in Chinese culture and has done so for many centuries.
Unlike the dragon in western culture which is a dreaded and feared creature, the Chinese dragon is associated with pleasant things such as goodness, greatness, blessing, boldness, intelligence, abundance and prosperity.
A day that we can highly recommend to all and Nundle is well worth the visit at the best of times.
Our route home took us down Mt Crawney, and one of the last times we came down this road was on a day many years ago - on the day that Barry took me on our first date - Awwwww lol- Still a beautiful drive and one where you can see the biggest displays of wild grass trees - which go for miles down the road.
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| Grass Trees |
What a nice day out, but time to leave and head back to Aberdeen. Waiting around to see what is happening with Barry's Dad, who has just gone into the nursing home.
Our plans now are to leave here on Monday and slowly make our way to Western Australia. Who knows when we will get there - no particular time- - who knows what we will run into when we get past this valley. Can't wait to hit the road again and start seeing some new things, meeting new people and oh to experience all these new things that are ahead of us.
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