How do you convince your toddler that tramping is fun when they don’t like dirt? The first step was doing the groundwork.
Pausing on the Routeburn Track to take in the superb alpine views, my heart felt full to bursting. Being there with my wife and daughter was a dream come true.
It was also a victory in a whole new mental game for me. It wasn’t just about cajoling a four-year-old up the gently inclined 10km or so of track – though there were times I felt I deserved a medal for maintaining my equanimity.
And it wasn’t just the weeks of planning that went into getting our family onto the track at least semi-prepared, despite injury niggles, worrying weather forecasts and complicated dietary requirements.
The real victory of being on the Routeburn was the landmark step forward in a propaganda war to ‘sell’ hiking to our daughter, Sophie. We’d dreamed of hiking with our child since before she was born, inspired by the outdoorsy kids we’d seen on the trail and in Wilderness. But Sophie went through a phase where she was terrified even to walk on dirt.
My wife Julia and I reeled in our walking pace and our expectations. We took a softly, softly approach, careful not to push too hard for fear of putting Sophie off completely. I made myself think like a chess player, determined to win the long game.
We learned all the tricks and tips that would make a nature walk fun for a little one. (Making leaf skewers is one of my favourites.) We enrolled Sophie in a preschool that offered forest play once a week. Mud soon became fun, and her stories gave us ideas of things to do on our walks.
One big shift helped enormously: camping. Staying in our family-sized tent with a plethora of gear to make everyone comfortable was a far cry from anything I could have imagined myself doing pre-Sophie. And yet, it was a connection with nature that worked for us. It wasn’t an epic hike, but I still got my nature fix, and Sophie was content.
Success on our bush walks was measured in time spent more or less happily – first 30 minutes, then 45, then a full hour. We took distance out of the equation. Little ground was covered, and that wasn’t the objective. We thought we were building Sophie’s resilience. In reality, we were building our own, too.
We were finally ready to book two nights at Routeburn Flats Hut, the first hut on the Routeburn Track. Planning was a careful balance between our hunger for the experience and the reality that we would all enjoy it more if we didn’t try to do too much. If this went well, we’d be back another time to do the rest of the track.
The first day was hard. It poured, and we struggled with the unaccustomed weight of all the extras we had brought for Sophie, especially food. Sophie showed an uncanny knack for needing a toilet as soon as we weren’t near one, and sheer drops-offs along the path made us nervous. But arriving at the stunning Routeburn Flats made it all worthwhile.
On the second day, everything fell into place. Our packs were lighter and so was the mood as we joked and sang our way 2.3km uphill to Routeburn Falls Hut for a day walk. Sophie loved it, and so did we. Good company at the hut made it even more fun. One of my favourite memories is of Sophie splashing in an alpine stream with a new friend.
Before we even began the trek out, we knew we’d be planning another hike with Sophie – and soon.
Trail tips for parents
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A river rules my life