BILL CAPON, 1939-2012
Unconventional … the bushwalker often forgot various elements of his gear, but his resourcefulness made up for any absent-mindedness.
Bill Capon was a leading member of Sydney Bushwalkers Club for more than 40 years and was renowned not just for the many challenging walks that he led, but also for the charming eccentricity with which he led them.
In 1976, during a break on a Kanangra to Katoomba walk at one of the tops approaching Narrowneck, Capon was spotted rummaging around in his pack. He pulled out a hunk of cheese that was speckled with dirt and bits of dead leaf. He eyed it suspiciously for a moment, then popped it into his mouth and continued rummaging. In some ways, this set the tone for the next 35 years.
Capon was a master navigator, absolutely reliable, and always at home in the bush. He saw the country in a map. He led challenging trips through unfamiliar territory. Things sometimes went wrong, and in such situations he recovered well and always with good humour. Bushwalkers had confidence in his ability to cope with an emergency, it's not just the dramatic things that count on a walk. Capon was at the front when the scrub was thickest, and did more than his share at camp.
Bushman's knack ... Bill Capon trekking in New Zealand.
However, for all of Capon's bush skills, he was a little unconventional. There were few trips on which he had a full kit. Omissions ranged from a missing mug to forgetting his sleeping bag or bringing the wrong map. He lost and misplaced things regularly. There must be a compass or pair of his glasses lying in the bush on just about every walk he took, and he could rarely find his car keys at the end of a walk. Because he so often forgot his gear, he was innovative - using shoelaces for tent guys and sticks for tent pegs. To him, this was small stuff, he had the bushman's knack of making himself comfortable.
For more than two decades, Capon led marvellous walks for Sydney Bushwalkers Club. He worked hard to get a balanced program, with a range of interesting trips in a variety of areas.
He not only made countless calls to leaders, encouraging them to put walks on the program, but thought up routes and found someone to lead them. His planning was done by spreading his maps over the floor and studying them with the aid of a glass, or two, of port, considering why no one had ever walked from A to B - and how it could be done.
He led wonderful long-distance and challenging walks - the Blue Mountains, Wollemi National Park, Ettrema and the Budawangs. He also walked in Nepal and the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Typical of his trips was the walk from Hilltop to Kanangra in 1995 when the party was out in the rain for seven days and dry for 24 hours. On another legendary effort, he led a group across the Wollemi, from Deep Pass near Lithgow to the Putty Road, carrying a considerable amount of water most of the way across the notoriously dry ridges.
Later, Capon embarked on an ambitious project to produce a database of all the overnight walks listed on the bushwalkers club since its start in 1927. He was justifiably proud of the result, which is now available to club members on its website. Days before his death, Capon was planning to improve and update the database.
William Capon was born on September 21, 1939, to Bert Capon, a journalist, and his wife Cal (nee Stumpt), a primary schoolteacher. After his schooling, he trained and worked as a teacher and married Terry Fletcher in 1993. He had an astute business sense and, after retiring from teaching, successfully managed real estate projects and invested well.
His interests included a deep appreciation and extensive knowledge of wine and classical and jazz music.
In recent years, health issues curtailed Capon's strenuous walking. However, as always, he was active and busy and his ill health had little effect on his full life in other areas.
Bill Capon is survived by Terry and her family, Susie and cousins Julie Welsman and Rob Godhard.
Tony Marshalland Catherine Mullane
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