Peter Hunter

Peter was born in Manila, Philippine Islands but was brought up and educated in Sydney, NSW. After leaving school he spent several gap years as a jackeroo on a pastoral property “Wambin” at Quilpie, in the far southwest of Queensland where he also played polo for the local station team. He proceeded to Sydney University graduating in Medicine and then progressing to become a dual specialist in Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and later in Radiology and Imaging. Peter and his family spent many years away from Australia, living in Germany and Great Britain collectively for seven years. During these years, photography and writing were natural fits to his personality, education, and background. He published many learned papers in Medicine, with his earliest collaborative non-medical publication “Shane’s Story”, a biography of his mother, released in 2003.

Peter is a descendant of Alexander Arbuthnot, an early pioneer of the sawmill industry in Victoria from the late 1800’s and is a major shareholder and non-executive Board Member of the Red Gum sawmill of the eponymous name founded and still operating from the original site on the banks of the Murray River at Koondrook, Victoria. Mill management prides itself on the environmentally conscious application of forestry preservation methods, practiced from the early days of mill operation.

Other interests include the establishment of an art collection commencing in the 1970’s with Australian Abstract Impressionist works, later a large collection of mainly Papunya Tula Central Australia aboriginal art (later sold through Sotheby’s) to be replaced with an Australian post war collection of quality artists’ works. He has recently commissioned a Street Artist to apply an appropriate image on the wall of a building co-owned with his wife Des in Cammeray, Sydney.

Although not a natural athlete, physical fitness has been a main part of his life with jogging playing an important component over the years – 12 City to Surfs and 6 Half Marathons, Hill walking in Scotland and skiing in the USA, Europe, Scotland and Australia. Other activities included climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (5895m), Mt Kinabalu in Borneo (4095m), Mt Fuji (3776m) and Mt Mulhacen in Spain (3479m), and others many with his wife and family. Self-guided walks were always part of life while living in Europe, particularly the Tour de Mt Blanc, a ten-day walk-through France, Italy, and Switzerland, as well as multi day walks through the Dordogne and Languedoc in France. The toughest of all was the two day “Tiger Leaping Gorge” walk near Lijiang,Yunnan Province, China.

Deslys Hunter

Deslys Hunter nee Moody was born in the Hunter Valley, NSW, and was a boarder at St Catherine’s school in Waverley, Sydney. After graduation from school she studied nursing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney where she met and later married Peter and together had a family of two boys, Simon and Benjamin, and now five grandchildren.

Des was appointed Director of Nursing at Parkdale Nursing Home in Waverley followed by Director of Nursing at Vaucluse Private Hospital.

The Hunter Family travelled the world together and lived overseas for a period of seven years, three in Germany with Peter employed as a Medical Officer with the Australian Federal Government and four in Scotland for Des’s training in Rehabilitation Health, an emerging health specialty at that time.

On returning to Sydney, she was appointed Director of Nursing and later CEO of Hirondelle Private Hospital Chatswood, on the north shore of Sydney, only retiring in 2017. The hospital was one of the first rehabilitation hospitals to gain accreditation in this health discipline in NSW.

Des was a member of several committees involving the establishment of rehabilitation services in NSW, as well as an active member of
the NSW and ACT Private Hospital Associations.

Des’s interest in art, photography and fitness was also a part of a busy life. She assisted Daphne Williams in the early years of the Papunya Tula art movement in helping with several exhibitions in Alice Springs and was instrumental in the purchase of aboriginal paintings during that time, and later during the establishment of a modern Australian collection. She also contributed in a large way to the photographic data base, especially when a female was needed in primitive societies, visited in several continents. She also played a vital role in organising the logistics of travel schedules, guides, and accommodation for visits throughout the world.