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Introducing Ellie and Tim
This month, my five year old daughter and I will be joining the Walk for Solar. We will be walking more than 325km for Port Augusta to Adelaide to support the Repower Port Augusta plan.
I have been a climate campaigner ever since I discovered that I would be having a child. The reality that my daughter would suffer the consequences of climate change meant that I finally had to act on my long-held opinions. I was a person who sat around thinking that there was nothing I could do to fix the immense problem of climate change, but once I became a parent—once I became responsible for another life in the most fundamental of ways—that excuse rang hollow. Since taking up the mantle, I have pranced for television cameras in a giant Kevin Rudd mask, spent hundreds of hours on the phone to young people motivating them to act on climate change, met with dozens of politicians, run for Parliament myself and scared myself to death numerous times.
Ellie is a climate campaigner, too. She’s joined me on most of my escapades. Running for Parliament, I went to around half of my appointments in a suit and tie and fairy wings because that was the only means by which Ellie would happily tag along. Our current tally of television news appearances is at 4:3. Ellie’s cuteness and my lack thereof has meant that, even though I once appeared without her (in the Kevin Rudd mask), twice now I have been cropped out of images of the pair of us.
Even though she hogs the limelight, my daughter is my inspiration and she is what keeps me driving for positive change. On days where the news for the future of the climate is bad, I look at her and find deeper and greater fire. On days where the news is good, I celebrate with her in the living room.
It is only fitting that she should be coming on the walk too. We will be taking a fold-up bike with a trailer as back-up in case Ellie’s little legs don’t hold out for the bigger days. Ellie is pretty fit, so hopefully we won’t have to use it. Nonetheless, given that I spent nearly $160 getting my much neglected folder serviced to the nines it might be nice to find a use for it over the fortnight, even if just once of twice.
We are Victorians and will be coming across on The Overland to join the walk. Our car, Emily, will be one of the support vehicles for the walk and will be joining us on the train, though we won’t be driving it on the walk. Because Emily is coming, on Thursday morning, we have to be at Southern Cross station at 5:30am. We do not like early mornings so that might be one of the most controversial aspects of the walk.
We have been training in the weeks leading up to the walk, having done numerous tough walks through the Brisbane Ranges, Lerderderg State Park. The walk between PA and Adelaide is supposed to be quite leisurely (though we’ll be setting a cracking pace), but we have been training on tough terrain in order to increase our fitness.
The training itself has been really rewarding, not least because a few of the inner city walks have ended at our favourite vegetarian fast food restaurant.
In the lead-up to Spring, the Brisbane Ranges have been particularly beautiful. I plan to spend a lot more time there in the future. I’d never been before. Spending time there has brought home a few realities of environmental degradation not related to climate change, as well. Seeing the iconic grass trees on the ranges fall to pieces after being affected by cinnamon fungus (which isn’t a fungus!) is a true tragedy.
Just over a week out from the walk, we’re pretty darn excited. I don’t think Ellie quite understands the enormity of what she is about to do, but then I don’t think she’d be excited or even agree to the walk if she did.
The AYCC is building a generation-wide movement to solve the climate crisis
www.aycc.org.au
2012-09-06 20:30:34
Source: http://aycc.org.au/2012/09/07/introducing-ellie-and-tim/
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