In April 2015 FoNR received the following short email from Virginia Edlington; "Hi Friends, I was close to Alison Busst and as such she bequeathed her belongings to me when she passed away in the early nineties. I only recently came across an article that talked about just how important John Busst was in the marine park lobbying etc. I am just wondering if you would like any of the photos of the building on Ninney Rise which I am sure I have tucked away somewhere. Please let me know and I will happily find them. Kind Regards Virginia Edlington" |
Amongst the photos it was exciting to see a record of the construction of Ninney Rise from the ground works to completion and others of John and Ali relaxing at their home showing the signature style bamboo furnishings and paintings created by John. There are notes on only a few of the images which are approximately 60 years old. We secured a RADF grant from the Council to pay for their digitalisation and cataloguing. A component of the grant is an exhibition of some of the images where we hope older Cassowary Coast residents could add invaluable information. This information will help tell the wonderful story of how the Bussts and friends, from their base at Ninney Rise, initiated the protection of what we now know as two World Heritage Areas: the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics rainforests. |