Five-minute read: Diane Winterling got her son into bushwalking early – while he was still in the womb – and that made quite an impact.
As parents we try to guide, inspire and encourage our children so they will contribute positively to society. In our situation we also wanted to pass on a love of walking and pondered how best to do this.
When five months pregnant, our ‘baby’ went on his first major walking venture in the Alpine National Park. Once born he spent many hours in a ‘baby’ back pack, often falling asleep down in the bottom of the pack.
Our day walks continued and he had his own small daypack to carry his muesli bar and juice. We didn’t realise what a good walker he was until he would have friends over to play and we would go for a short walk together and the friend complained all the way.
At age five he walked all the way up Mt Difficult in the Grampians. I recall other walkers passing us at the top and commenting: “how did that kid get up here”.
As a family we continued to walk together and with our encouragement Tristan embarked on his Duke of Edinburgh achieving his bronze with an extended walk in the High Country.
At age 14 he accompanied us on the Overland Track. At that stage he often walked ahead not to be seen with ‘Mum and Dad’, although begrudgingly joining us at night. He ‘connected’ with some tourists when we became snowbound in one of the huts and the trip became a highlight and a great sense of achievement for him.
Two years later he walked along side us to complete the Routeburn and Milford for the expedition component of his Duke of Edinburgh Gold level (with a few tense moments as adolescent characteristics continued to emerge). Sadly that was our last walk together. He scoffed as we completed more extended walks in Tasmania, the Coast to Coast and Mont Blanc. Tristan had hung up his boots and was never walking again.
Year 12 and university were successfully completed, he became interested in rock climbing and began to reconnect with ‘the outdoors’. After graduating as a lawyer and a very difficult period trying to find employment he decided he needed to get away from it all. In October 2013 Tritan completed the 10 day Kokoda Trek and this reignited his love for bushwalking.
We would like to think we have successfully passed on the walking legacy and somewhere an employer will recognise the motivation, persistence and resilience required and the benefits of employing such a person.