When country craftsperson Tim Anson was given his first penknife on his eighth birthday by his father, little did he know it would spark a lifelong passion.
"He taught me how to keep it sharp and how to whittle wood," he said.
Now 61 years old, Mr Anson has been whittling walking sticks since he was a child, following in his father's footsteps.
"I think it goes back to my dad, watching him make things out of what he found when we went for walks when I was a kid," he said.
"He'd pick up sticks and carve his initials in them, carve notches and little handles in them."
Mr Anson, from the New South Wales Southern Highlands, said he harvested apple tree sticks every "July when the sap of the tree was down".
"There isn't much moisture in the sticks so when I dry them out, they don't split," he said.
After storing them in his woodshed for 12 months, the split and cracked branches are turned into kindling while the others are turned into walking sticks.
Yet by his own admission, Mr Anson often does very little to them.
"I cut all the burrs and excess branches off, rub the grey outer bark off till it's a beautiful red burgundy colour, then oil them and either attach a cow horn pommel or put an Osage orange cap on it," he said.
He uses a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine to finish his sticks.
"I do layer after layer, rub it in then put it in the sun to let it soak in," Mr Anson said.
Mr Anson said he saw knives and sticks as tools, rather than weapons.
"If you are walking on uneven ground, it helps you keep your balance, you can negotiate little creeks, you can step over rocks, you can push lizards and snakes out of the way or scare a dog who is chasing you," he said.
"They are tools, another tool of humanity.
"[But] the biggest weapon on the planet is human beings and they can pick up anything they like and turn it into a weapon or a tool."
A growing need for walking sticks
Fay Crozier volunteers at the Vinnies Oak Flats op-shop where she has seen hundreds of walking sticks come and go.
"We are getting an older population now and there's a need for walking sticks," she said.
"People need a stick, but they don't want to pay much for it, or they might only want it for a few weeks rather than years, and they can pick one up for a few dollars and use it while they are getting their hip or their knee done."
'Every stick has a story'
Having purchased his first stick out of necessity, artist Claude Fabian now owns about 50, admitting it is hard to know exactly how many because he keeps them in his car, his south coast home, and takes one everywhere he goes.
His extensive collection includes several of Mr Anson's walking sticks.
"Tim Anson is an artist, a master craftsman who makes knives, sculptures, and is very talented," Mr Fabian said.
"I needed a stick because I hurt my spine many years ago and I was taking lots of painkillers and had difficulty walking.
"I thought, 'If I am going to have to wear one, make sure it's a nice one', and so I turned my artistic eye to look for interesting walking sticks.
"Every stick has a story."
