30th May 2024 11:29AMIn the mid 80s and presumably before and after, Mr. Shinkfield accompanied Junior School students on camps to Toonallook and the Grampians. He was considered something of a heroic figure, and for good reason. There is a high rock feature in the Grampians Pinnacle walk called the Nerve Test, which is now bound by tall steel bannisters for safety reasons. But in those days, a person could walk out on this very narrow rock bridge that stood over a massive drop into the mountains with no safety bars at all.

In the Year Six Grampians camp of 1984, it was whispered the Mr. Shinkfield could walk out on the Nerve Test, light a cigarette and smoke it before coming back. When we approached the Nerve Test, a few of us called out to him to do it, and like a steady human gazelle, he stepped out on that narrow, bare rock bridge, paused at the end, then walked back. No cigarette, though. Heroic nature confirmed.

Adrian
May 2024