Veikkira Bain, a Warumungu girl who is now living in Melbourne to study, is trying to find out if John and Margaret Bain still live in the Illawarra.

“They are family and I want a connection with my dad’s family,” Veikkira said.

“I want them to know me. I’ve been wanting to find them as of when I was little.

“Since my dad died in 2010 I just wanted to find another connection to other family members.”

The Bains arrived in Wollongong in 1964 from Scotland, with their son Alan a baby at the time. As an adult Alan “was a bit of a wanderer” and after a time he went travelling, ending up at Tennant Creek, a desert town in the remote Northern Territory.

It was there he met Veikkira’s mother, a Warumungu woman from Tennant, and Veikkira was born. Sadly, Alan drowned in a dam in 2010 at Tennant Creek. Veikkira remembers him fondly and thinks of him often, family friend Tanya Fry said.

“She often writes his name and draws little pictures around his name,” Ms Fry said.

“He’s always in her thoughts and that’s why it would be amazing if she could meet his parents, her grandparents.”

Ms Fry said the Bains might not even know Veikkira exists.

“She has never met them and desperately wants to know if they are still alive,” she said.

“She is not sure if they knew of her existence but knows they were in Wollongong and surrounds over many years.

“I just hope they’re still alive – they would probably be in their mid-seventies to early eighties. Alan would have been 52 this year.

“I think they’d be so excited to find their granddaughter. Veikki’s such a sweet, beautiful girl. She’s really kind and it would be wonderful if they got to meet.”

Initial attempts by the Mercury have not succeeded in locating John or Margaret Bain in the Illawarra. We did come across a Scottish relative who had been looking for them too, but he had returned to Scotland.

If you can help, please contact Ms Fry on tanyafryphotography@gmail.com or this writer on blangford@fairfaxmedia.com.au