Historic Tales & Trails in the Mission Beach Region

The Mission Beach area is steeped in history! Whether you are looking for natural or cultural history, defence or event history, you should be able to find something that will keep you interested long after you have finished your visit to our area! Take a tour in your own time, check out the Tales and Trails March 2018

information for this page is provided by the “Beach Historians” – Mission Beach’s own Historical Society. To contribute to the collection, or find out more regarding our colourful  history – contact them via the website (www.mbhs.com.au) or Facebook.


Bingil Bay

Bingil Bay

  • Ninney Rise/John Büsst Plaque
    Learn how John Büsst and others worked in the 1960’s & 70’s to save the Great Barrier Reef, using the magnificent house called ‘Ninney Rise’ as a base. A great Australian Story! Ninney Rise is the base from which John Büsst organised the ‘Save the Reef’ and rainforest campaigns in the 1960s and early 1970s. Set in rainforest by the Coral Sea, it was a meeting place for the campaigners and scientists including Prime Minister Harold Holt, poet Judith Wright, and scientists Webb & Tracey.When John Büsst saved nearby Ellison Reef from limestone mining in the Innisfail court in 1967, it set the legal precedent for protecting the whole Great Barrier Reef, including from oil drilling. The campaigns led to the declaration of the world’s largest marine park, the formation of GBRMPA, and the eventual declaration of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
    After John Büsst died in 1971, Kate Tode bought Ninney Rise. Kate gifted it to National Parks when she died in 1990, trusting it would become a base for scientists to stay to explore the reef and rainforest and continue Büsst’s work. In 2010, the place was entered on the Queensland Heritage Register.
    In 2014 the Queensland Government leased Ninney Rise to the Friends of Ninney Rise for five years. For more information regarding this iconic house, contact www.ninneyrise.com.
  • Cutten Graves/Mangoe Trees/Bicton Hill
    The Cutten Family, using the Bingil Bay area, grew a wide variety of commercial crops including tea and coffee, mangoes and citrus. Discover their pioneering connections and how they sent their products to southern markets in the 1890’s – 1900’s.
  • Basalt Flow and Vegetation
    See the remnants of former volcanic activity and the intrusion of rich rainforest vegetation in such a unique geographical and ecological environment.
  • Perry Harvey Jetty
    Study the history of the first tourist commercial reef trips from the original Clump Point Jetty, and Perry Harvey and family’s influence on tourism since.
Mission Beach

Mission Beach

  • Clump Point/Aboriginal Heritage/Cutten Walking Track
    Walk in the steps of the pioneering families of Mission Beach and discover the rich Aboriginal Heritage linked to this area.
  • Original School Site/Old Road Bridge/Norm Byrnes Aboretum/C4
    Research the conservation story, and the importance of the Cassowary and other natural wildlife to this beautiful area, as well as the story of the preservers of flora and fauna. Visit the bridge remains and imagine the early settlers transportation needs!
Wongaling Beach

Wongaling Beach

  • Rotary Park – Yasi Circle/Mr. Reid’s Grave
    Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi was a powerful catergory 5 storm in 2011. The performance pavilion and Yasi Circle were built with Government assisted funds. The old Clump Point Jetty pylons were used in the pavilion’s construction.Mr. Reid’s Grave – Wonder at the dedication to a past resident by his former Sydney workmates and his own personal journey!
  • Dunk Island
    Learn about historic Dunk Island & other surrounding islands, and the extraordinary life of the “Beachcomber” – Edmund Banfield. Be remined of the valuable part this area played in the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942 in WWII.
South Mission Beach

South Mission Beach

  • Aborginal Settlement Site/’Mission’/1918 Cyclone
    Visit the commemorative site of the Queensland Government Aboriginal Settlement, destroyed in the 1918 cylcone and learn of the tragic aftermath.
  • Aboriginal Memorial Midja/Kennedy Cairn
    View the memorial dedicated to the experiences of the Aboriginal people taken to the settlement. Nearby is the memorial dedicated to the fateful 1848 Kennedy expedition.
  • The Kennedy Track
    The Edmund Kennedy Memorial Walking Track was built by the community to commemorate the 1848 expedition, and to protect the delicate environment.