When exploring the tip shop, Ms Grantham found an old worn out violin which she thought needed to be fixed.

“I picked up the violin at the tip, it was in very poor form. The man I went with wanted it too but I really took a liking to it,” she said.

Ms Grantham was surprised as another man approached her asking for the violin.

“There was another man who said he wanted it as well.

She said replied to the man “no, it is in my hands, I want it.”

Ms Grantham thought it was rude the man asked to have the violin which she was holding.

“I asked why he wanted it and he said it was because he likes restoring things, I said ‘oh but I do too’.”

It was a battle over the violin and Ms Grantham won, purchasing the violin for $3.

She took the worn out violin to a string instrument specialist in Bega who was able to fix it at a cost of $400. 

Now with the violin restored, Ms Grantham was eager to hear its sound.

She asked her friend if she knew a little girl who could play, and the Ziino family came to mind.

Talented nine-year-old Amélie Ziino and brother Luca, 16, visited Ms Grantham’s home in Tura Beach for a special private concert to christen the refurbished violin.

It was Amélie’s first time playing a full-size violin and she did not miss a beat as she introduced the violin’s new sound through a few bars of a classical violin piece.

When asked how it felt hearing the violin play for the first time she said “it sounded wonderful, but how it felt when it was played I don’t know, my role in the violin is to ensure my chihuahua doesn’t eat it.”