AND LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN ...
… how it all began!

By Tim Sillcock

Walking along a dusty road in the State Forest near Murchison I declared that I would never pursue a leisure time activity like bushwalking. I was aged about 14 years and on a three day bushwalk with my school; and it was hell!

Founding an adventure company was furthest from my mind as I drudged along, with an eighty pound pack on my back, with my twenty-five class mates, who were spread some two kilometres down the road.

Bushwalks and camp-outs were rare events in schools in those days. This year ten camp was my first experience away with school mates. From a young age I had camped-out on the riverbank on the family property, but I had not previously carried gear on my back.

My mother had instructed me on the provisions that I should carry. They included two spare pairs of shoes, two spare jumpers, clean shirts each day, spare trousers, a towel, complete toiletry kit, a hammer to help with tent pegs, three water bottles, a stove, cup, plate, cutlery, can opener, tent, lilo, pillow, sleeping bag, spare blanket, sheets and a tea-towel.

It was the tea-towel that my class mates ragged me most about! Particularly when it caught alight in the fire when I was cooking dinner!

There were many aspects of the camp, and its organiser, that I would criticise now. For many of us it was a very negative experience rather than a positive challenge.

However, the value that followed this experience surfaced many years later when I organised many outdoor experiences for children with Geelong Grammar School and, later, with Adventurama. My emphasis on positive experiences provided many children with challenges that offered personal growth and development.

The seed for Adventurama was planted soon after leaving school when my younger brother and I developed an interest in the history of the Victorian Alps. Spurred by a curiosity to visit the sites of ruined gold rush towns and old mines, we spent most weekends in the mountains. We would drive as far as we could until the road became too rough or steep for our early model car, or a river blocked our way. Then we would walk the rest of the way, carrying our basic survival equipment; food, a tent, a bowl and spoon, maps, gold pan, and a bottle of port!

We didn’t regard our ventures as bushwalking. Our pace was slow enough to ponder and enjoy the beauty of the mountains.

I still prefer to find a harmony with the outdoors rather than hurrying a bushwalk or river trip.

My adventures in the mountains covered all seasons and climatic conditions. My brother and I encounted many near disasters; often as a result of poor planning, spontaneous trip changes or by being ill-equipped.

We once spent a night out in the snow with neither tents nor sleeping bags when one of our party suggested a moon-light ski. One of the group developed symptoms of hyperthermia so we dug-in for the night to warm him. We got by with an emergency kit that we had thought to take with us. Still, it was the coldest night that I can remember!

These experiences taught me to be prepared for any event or circumstances when in the outdoors.

My career has been typical of my adventures in the outdoors. I have explored several industries and jobs and have made many mistakes, but I have always found time to ponder my experiences and learn from them.

Through my outdoor experiences I learned to plan carefully for trips and respond to unforeseen and difficult events and circumstances by calmly assessing the situation and plotting a course of action that would benefit the whole group, not just me. In business, I have adopted much the same philosophy.

Adventurama began as my vision; however, it actualised through the dedication of a group of staff who shared, developed and realised that vision.

Adventurama was created to provide exceptional experiences for customers whilst providing a work environment for outdoor instructors and enthusiasts to share their experiences, skills and philosophies with others - and to make a living for themselves. I was to be merely the custodian of the structure!

During my "corporate" career experiences in the 1980's and early 1990’s I was taught to encourage employees to take "ownership" of the business. I endeavoured to practice this philosophy in Adventurama but had limited success.

I realise now that staff will not assume committed ownership of their job or the business if they feel that someone else is the true benefactor of their efforts.

Some organisations offer actual ownership of the business through staff share schemes, and it seems, will often gain dedicated commitment from employees.

I found that staff did not necessarily need to own shares in the business to be committed. Often staff did not want a psychologically tie to the business that is represented by ownership of shares.

I found that the negative barrier to commitment of staff was their resentment of un-involved shareholders who were profiting from their efforts.

The strategy that I settled on was to “house” the intellectual property of the organisation in an umbrella company and to offer staff with entrepreneurial flair and drive to operate profit centres under the guidance and infrastructure of the umbrella company. Those who do not wish to operate their own programmes can still work for the profit centres.

This concept, combined with the original philosophy of Adventurama, seeded the birth of Evolution Outdoors; an umbrella organisation that supports the business infrastructure of tourism and recreation operators.