Heading off the beaten track

It is safe to say we all know someone who has been touched by breast cancer. Some win the fight and others, sadly, lose their battle with the disease.

Robe’s Linda Tait has certainly had share of personal experience with breast cancer in the past couple of years and it has seen her spearhead multiple fundraising campaigns.

“My mother-in-law fought it and survived,” Linda said. “I had a friend in her early 30s die of breast cancer. She had a rare kind and left behind two kids and her husband and my friend Barry that is joining me on the hike lost his wife leaving him with four small children.

“There aren’t too many people around that don’t know someone – sadly it is so common.”

The Robe Golf Club hosts a fundraising day each year in October and Linda was only too willing to jump on board as the major sponsor of the event.

But she didn’t stop there and has set up another fundraising campaign kickstarting this May, through her business Robe Getaways.

Linda manages around 35 properties and many of those owners have jumped on board the campaign, including one owner who is donating 25 per cent of their May income and another owner who is donating $20 per night for every confirmed booking and the generosity doesn’t end there.

May will also see Linda and three of her friends tackling their own personal challenge with a five day walk along the Great Ocean Road.

It will see Linda and her contingent starting their journey at the Otway Lighthouse through to the 12 Apostles on a 70km trek through bushland, crossing waterways and the beach.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Linda said. “Being in the industry that I am in, it is 24/7 and full on all the time. This is going to be a huge challenge but also some valuable ‘me’ time, an opportunity to push myself and a chance to reflect on the past year.”

The Great Ocean Road Walk is totally outside Linda’s comfort zone but she has been preparing as best she can.

“I haven’t slept in a tent since Year 7 camp,” she said, “I like to sleep in comfort and warmth and have a bath or shower at night.”

But that won’t be the case from May 5-9 as she traverses the countryside carrying her 17kg back pack.

“I think the walking part will be OK but carrying the back pack, sleeping in a tent, cooking dehydrated meals will all test me,” Linda said. “A lot of people in Robe have watched me walk around with a pack on my back.”

Linda has tackled Beacon Hill, the mountain bike track and Long Beach in preparation and at this stage had been training with a 9kg back pack so she knows the 17kg one will add a degree of difficulty to the task.

Anyone interested in donating to the cause can head to the Robe Getaways facebook page and follow the fundraising links.

“We are all about raising money for research,” Linda said. “We want more people to be able to be saved in the long run. It affects men and women and it affects the families that are left behind.”