Candle Shack - makers of hand-poured, scented candles

This business, known now as The Candle Shack, was formerly known as The Waxhouse. The Waxhouse operated from a garage in Sydney for over 15 years. The previous owners had a stall at Paddy"s Market, their daughter eventually acquiring a shop front in Newtown as well. They both worked full-time, operated Paddy"s on Saturdays and made candles every evening and Sundays to fill orders for themselves and their wholesale customers. They must have worked every waking moment!

These owners, over time, bought out the other candle stalls at Paddy"s, until they became the only candle supplier at this venue. From both Paddy"s and the Asra store in Newtown, the business developed a successful and enduring wholesale and retail base. It expanded to the importation of incense, incense holders, oil-burners, clothes and the bottling of essential, fragrant and massage oils.

In 1996, the owners retired and moved to the south coast of New South Wales, bringing the candle manufacturing business with them. We, Paul and Debbie Barling, were their neighbours in the south and we got to know them through mowing their lawns while they were away. When they retired, they needed some part-time help in the candle workshop, so Debbie began to work for them on a small part-time basis whilst she was on maternity leave with our first daughter, Pamela.

The work continued, with Debbie so enamoured of the candles that she and her mother began to attend the small markets around Nowra and Ulladulla. This met with varying success until we got a site at the Berry Markets. We were a popular and regular attendee of the Berry markets for 11 years until 2005.

Due to the success of The Waxhouse efforts to move into the importation and wholesale business, candle making became too time-consuming relative to the rewards, and so we were offered the business. For a year we continued to operate from the premises of The Waxhouse, until we bought a larger property ourselves.

Our aim was to increase our retail income without having to attend more markets where we were so reliant on good weather and good crowds. Also, by placing our home and business in the same space, we could both help each other more, and we could both take advantage of more time with our growing children - Pamela, Rachel and John.

We have been at our current premises since 2000, and have been operating our candle making demonstrations ever since.

The property consists of 2.2 acres (1 hectare) fronting a local main road and only 2 km from the Princes Highway (the main highway on the East Coast of Australia). Originally part of a much larger parcel of land, around 30 years ago it was squatted by hippies who apparently planted a major hemp crop! Their tin shed and sunken toilet are still at the back of the property - no sign of hemp though!

Hazel and Kevin Hennessy bought the land to use as a wholesale and propagation nursery. They stocked their retail nursery from this property, and this permission extended to our acquisition of the property. The gardens are lovely as a result, with many strange and wonderful flowers and trees, including almost a dozen fruit trees. Because Kevin and Hazel were in their 80"s when they left for their family in Queensland, the gardens were neglected. We are slowly restoring them back to their former glory and they will one day be an absolute treat to see. We have applied to Council for retail nursery permission, as a fitting complement to the candles.

With a good location, we hoped to attract just a few of the hundreds of thousands of tourists that flock to this region each weekend, on public holidays and during school holidays. We commenced advertising, ultimately settling with a popular holiday guide and by placing flyers at caravan parks, motels, tourist information centres and the like. This method gradually paid off, culminating in our first Christmas exceeding our expectations and provoking much more thought.

For the first three years, our candle manufacturing occurred in the garage and granny flat, much the same as it had for nearly 20 years! The property has a wonderful old shed, built for the Hennessy's 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration and their daughter's wedding reception. Made of corrugated iron and great slabs of tree trunk, we thought it would be the ideal setting for our particular type of business. A little like an old pioneer candlemaker's workplace. However, Council's being what they are, we were going to be required to pull it apart and put it back together in order to use it for our express purpose, so instead, in 2003, we opted for a new shed which we lined with corrugated iron. The luxury of space was and is awesome, and it's arranged so visitors can watch Paul at work. We conduct demonstrations regularly (sometimes 10 times a day!) and we have room to accommodate coach groups of over 40 people sitting down for a more extensive demo.

We receive many wonderful comments and have developed a loyal following amongst both locals and tourists. Many regular holidayers to the Shoalhaven save up their candle shopping to stock up with us.

This web site represents one of our long term goals, as did giving The Candle Shack the home it deserved and the new Workshop with a flash showroom, allowing no rats or possums - the smell is so nice they think there's food here. They chew off the tops of the candles, then spit them out! For the future we hope to provide an easy access toilet for visitors which is not in our house! And a beautiful picnic shed from which all can enjoy the lovely trees, shrubs and birds! Paradise!!!