An Australian time capsule

[PZ]

Not really an official time capsule, but it is one compared to the abandoned structures we find here in the States. There does not appear to be the same degree of graffiti, theft, and vandalism in Australia as we see in our abandoned structures.

This is an interesting video of an Aussie YouTuber going out to find old abandoned structures and giving watchers a tour of what he see. His videos are better than the typical nonsense you see on YouTube with the obnoxious music and frantic gyrations.

His videography and how he chronicles his adventure fits perfectly with the theme of his videos - in one of them he even makes reference to wondering if Leather Face was going to jump out.

It is a long video (41 minutes) but I was captivated the entire time.

https://www.ztrips.org/wp/gt/2022/01/19/an-australian-time-capsule/

[Dweller_Benthos]

Interesting, didn't watch it all yet but sure shows how something can last even abandoned like that. It appears it's on the edge of a hay field that's still being taken care of, since there's new bales of hay sitting there. Probably a smaller farm that was bought out by a larger one and the people just moved out. Considering what's left behind they might have just been renting and that stuff went with the house so they left it. Plus those old manual Singer sewing machines are super heavy (we used to have one) and moving it is something you avoid if you can, lol.

[PZ]

...Plus those old manual Singer sewing machines are super heavy (we used to have one) and moving it is something you avoid if you can, lol.

Indeed!   

Another cool find was an old gramophone with vinyl still on the platter

I love seeing things like this (I've never personally seen anything like it except in preserved, physically guarded places). Humans have not changed throughout the millennia - loot and vandalize is what most places like this experience.

[Dweller_Benthos]

After watching the rest it looks like someone was living there fairly recently, well maybe 20-30 years ago, lol! The 80s aren't that far back in my mind! Plus it seems someone was using it to store things or was getting ready to move it out when they just didn't. All the fireplace mantels stacked up and other things including the one room piled with junk seems to suggest it was being sorted to move and the rest thrown into a pile. Then it just styed that way. I bet it's fairly remote so not as prone to vandalism as a more accessible place would be.

[PZ]

I think you may be right D_B - good forensics 

[fragger]

I'm a bit late to this one (as usual). This is a really interesting video, thanks for linking it PZ. I'm always fascinated by old homes and buildings like this one, with much of the furniture and fittings intact. Makes me wonder who lived there, what kind of life they led, what stories are behind them, and where they ended up. Seeing the left-behind possessions adds life to places like this, a reminder that people once filled them with talk, laughter and tears, joy, misery and love. It's also poignant, a reminder of the impermanence of the things we leave behind.

It's interesting to see the multiple generations' worth of artifacts and furniture all in one place. He's probably right about the construction date (late 1800s). The curved, corrugated roof over the front of the veranda is pretty typical of Aussie farmhouses from that time, as are the tiles on the floor. Probably built no later than "Federation" (1900) then added to by successive owners or tenants.

I like the guy's "snake gaiters" at the start I hate walking through long, flattened hay/grass like that, that sort of stuff is snake nirvana.

The old AWA TV was a blast, we had one very much like that when I was a little kid (AWA stands for Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (Ltd), a company which dates back to 1909). That set looks late 50s - early 60s vintage. And those orange curtains at 13:43 in the video - we had curtains exactly like those in the 60s, same colour and everything. Groovy, man

I was on the lookout for clues as to where in Oz this place may be, but I didn't see any. Could be pretty much anywhere, though the landscape suggests the eastern end of the country. Which doesn't exactly narrow it down a lot Something about the landscape says central-eastern New South Wales to me, but I could be totally wrong.

[mandru]

Time capsule was a good description for that abandoned farmhouse.

I found it surprising that he was relieved when the room he saved for last contained rats instead of possums.  I would think that rats would be scarier. 

I liked the design of the club chairs with their broad flat arms that were in a few of the rooms.  I'd like a loveseat (2 seating spaces) of that style for my small living room.  The spacious arm top would give us a useful resting spot for the multiple remotes when we watch movies with the Blu-ray player. 

[PZ]

I'm a bit late to this one (as usual). This is a really interesting video, thanks for linking it PZ. I'm always fascinated by old homes and buildings like this one, with much of the furniture and fittings intact. Makes me wonder who lived there, what kind of life they led, what stories are behind them, and where they ended up. Seeing the left-behind possessions adds life to places like this, a reminder that people once filled them with talk, laughter and tears, joy, misery and love. It's also poignant, a reminder of the impermanence of the things we leave behind.

It's interesting to see the multiple generations' worth of artifacts and furniture all in one place. He's probably right about the construction date (late 1800s). The curved, corrugated roof over the front of the veranda is pretty typical of Aussie farmhouses from that time, as are the tiles on the floor. Probably built no later than "Federation" (1900) then added to by successive owners or tenants.

I like the guy's "snake gaiters" at the start I hate walking through long, flattened hay/grass like that, that sort of stuff is snake nirvana.

The old AWA TV was a blast, we had one very much like that when I was a little kid (AWA stands for Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (Ltd), a company which dates back to 1909). That set looks late 50s - early 60s vintage. And those orange curtains at 13:43 in the video - we had curtains exactly like those in the 60s, same colour and everything. Groovy, man

I was on the lookout for clues as to where in Oz this place may be, but I didn't see any. Could be pretty much anywhere, though the landscape suggests the eastern end of the country. Which doesn't exactly narrow it down a lot Something about the landscape says central-eastern New South Wales to me, but I could be totally wrong.

Sounds like I am much like you fragger. When living in southern California decades ago I went to the deserts virtually every weekend to escape the city. When there I discovered many interesting places (not nearly as good as the ones in these videos), but my curiosity and my thoughts were much like yours - wondering what occurred in the past. One time in the Mojave I visited the site of an old ghost town to which I barely made it even in my 4x4 vehicle. Once at the top I explored a bit and found the town dump and was rummaging around in the remnants of what people discarded decades prior. I could see all the way toward the valley in the west and heard the sounds or glasses clinking and voices in the background - it sounded like an old saloon. I shook my head, listened again, and the sounds persisted for several minutes. I guess it was likely just my imagination, but it sure sounded authentic. Because I remember it to this day it has become a memory that will last a lifetime - something to enjoy in my declining years.

I found it surprising that he was relieved when the room he saved for last contained rats instead of possums.  I would think that rats would be scarier. 

I totally agree, and the difference for me is that rats move much quicker than possums, leaving me less chance to escape 

[nex]

My late mother-in-law's Singer cabinet is identical to this one, although this machine is probably two or three years older than my mother-in-law's.
If I'm not mistaken, those club chairs with their broad flat arms date back to around the 1940s, they were very popular between the 40s and 50s, and I'd like
to know why some of the ceilings were covered with wallpaper, you can see the beautiful timber ceiling of the one room where the paper was peeling off.   

[fragger]

I could see all the way toward the valley in the west and heard the sounds or glasses clinking and voices in the background - it sounded like an old saloon. I shook my head, listened again, and the sounds persisted for several minutes. I guess it was likely just my imagination, but it sure sounded authentic.

You may very well have heard that. I like to think of myself as a fairly grounded man of reason, but I don't discount things like that. I've had a couple of similarly baffling experiences myself. I like to say there is no such thing as the "supernatural", there is only what we understand and what we don't. Our perceptual senses are limited, after all. For instance, our eyes can only see a tiny sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum (the part we call "visible light"), but we know the rest of it exists - "radio" waves, X-rays, Gamma rays - because we either make use of it or we can detect and measure it with our non-biological equipment. Perhaps there are similar principles pertaining to what we blandly label as consciousness, or "the spiritual".

We had our own resident ghost in the theater where I worked back in the day. I and all who worked there for any length of time (as well as the theater cat, who served as a reliable, hissing spookometer) will attest to its presence. I once worked late at night by myself making backup FX tapes. Let's just say I only did it once... I still get the creeps thinking about it. I didn't see him (some claimed they had), but I sure as hell heard him, clomping around in the loft above the control room. A nervous visual inspection confirmed that nobody was present, but the air up there was like standing in front of an open fridge. It was never like that any other time. On another occasion, he pushed an actress in the back while she was waiting for her cue to go on, and I did see that - I was standing about eight feet behind her and saw her suddenly stumble forwards. After the show, she came up to me and said "Grow up, that wasn't funny". I replied, "What isn't funny is that it wasn't me". We both went for drinks. She'd already heard some of the stories.

I only ever had those two run-ins, but it was enough to make me refrain from dissing the other stories I heard.

[PZ]

Your story reminded me of a similar experience I had, fragger. About three decades ago when I started my first career job I was on the second floor of a three-story building in my lab preparing for the upcoming week. My two boys were with me when we heard furniture being moved on the third floor - sounded like chairs scraping on the floor as if someone was rising. I looked at the boys and they returned a curious look because we all knew that the building was supposed to be empty. I asked them what they heard to which they replied "chairs moving". Being curious we went upstairs to find the entire floor dark with not a single sound to be heard.

Later that week I was mentioning my adventure with colleagues who informed me that there was a story of a "ghost" that roamed this particular building. Supposedly some had seen an apparition of a Union soldier looking to be from the 1800s roaming the halls.  Our campus was built on the site of an old Union fort, which had been built on Native American sacred lands.

[nex]

I won't take part in this conversation, all I'm prepared to say is that I had my fair share of "roamers"

[PZ]