Grow takes a look at what those in business and industry do when they are not working – what drives them at home and away from the office, shop or factory floor. To begin the series, we discover that Tim Leed of Melbourne Rotomould has a pechant for extreme sports, as CASEY NEIL reports.
TIM Leed found a passion for the extreme through Scouts.
“I went through Cub Scouts, Venturers and Rovers. I spent nearly 20 years being a leader,” he said.
“That started things.”
The director of Pakenham plastic manufacturer Melbourne Rotomould hang-glides “a couple of times a month”.
“I had my first experience with hang-gliding on a Venturer camp in Tasmania on a simulator,” Mr Leed said.
“It was a 200-metre flying fox off a cliff.
“Hang-gliding is the closest form of flying to what it would feel like to be a bird.
“There’s heaps of flying sites all around Victoria – inland including Mount Buffalo, Bright, Mount Beauty and over the other side of town near Beaufort, then coastal sites like Kilcunda, Portsea, Flinders, Lorne…”
Mr Leed also found a love for caving through Scouts, guiding children through the experience.
“They take kids away about once a month at Mount Eccles or Buchan or Britannia Creek,” he said.
“Some caves have really tight sections – to fit through you have to fully exhale and jam yourself through without breathing – and others you could drive a bus through.
“It’s good fun pushing people’s boundaries, and it’s very rewarding to work with someone to overcome a challenge or fear and then turn around afterwards and say a big ‘thank-you’ – and likely have another go!
“It’s also great exercise – imagine crawling along a 30 metre low tunnel on your elbows and toes. It certainly activates the core muscles.”
He also counts rock-climbing, dirt and mountain biking, sailing, four-wheel driving, kayaking, skiing, mountaineering and hiking among his pastimes.
“I think it’s good to be busy and to do stuff and not to just sit at home and watch TV,” he said.
“It’s good to be active – it’s important for your health and it’s good for your mind.”
Mr Leed said his hobbies put him in the right mind-frame to tackle his working week, although they could also be a hazard.
“I’ve dislocated my shoulder hang gliding, rock climbing and kayaking,” he said.
“You’ve just got to be careful.”
Melbourne Rotomould started nine years ago and has about 45 employees.
The smallest part Rotomould manufactures weighs just 70 grams. The largest is 500 kilograms.
“Water tanks is a large part of what we do, but we do custom and contract moulding as well so that could be anything,” he said.
Mr Leed wants to tackle more “back-country skiing, like up Mount Kosciusko way”, skiing in Europe, Japan and the US, more mountaineering, more climbing, more hiking …
“Everything,” he said.
His daughters, 15 and 17, get in on the action, too.
“My eldest is more interested in hiking now,” he said.
“I took her over to New Zealand at the start of the year and we did the Milford Sound hike.”
The younger one is a keen rock climber – she takes great pleasure in arm wrestling all the “buff” boys at school and beating them.
