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David Chew

Japan Trek 2025

Two weeks now until the walk for Guide Dogs Qld Australia.

We’ ve been training. Walking every week for at least 2 hours. Doing walks up the local hills. Today’s ascent was to 270m. Breathtaking views at the top! 

I’ve been putting in the effort to make sure I can do the walk and I’ll try and remember to take photos!

Guide Dogs Qld put clients and their families at the heart of everything they do. Every day, they empower people to find the solutions that will make the biggest differences to achieve independence, participation, inclusion and wellbeing. Guide Dogs understands that no two journeys are the same. So, they work side-by-side with Queenslanders and their families to help them find their way with services tailored to suit them. Guide Dogs support people of all ages, with different levels of vision loss, to achieve freedom and independence.


Your Donation Will Make An IMPACT!

Raised

$2,889

My Goal

$5,000

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My Updates

Training for the Nakasendo walk

Tuesday 7th Oct
This picture was a couple of weeks back. Walking all over Currumbin Hill. Last weekend’s walk was over the hill and back close to Tweed Heads West. The middle part wended through forest and estuary. So, yes, Tony and I have been doing some training for the walk and breaking in our new boots. I found a stick to help me, but that gave me blisters. So I think I will get a trekking stick like Tony has.

What does it take to train a Guide Dog?

Tuesday 16th Sep
Those beautiful, dopey, loveable labradors that we see guiding a visually impaired person are the elite of a cohort that have undergone years of breeding, countless hours of nurturing, oodles of positive reinforcement training and testing and finally careful matching to their human recipient. When they become a guide dog, these labradors have a responsibility to safely manoeuvre their human through life. Did you know that these service dogs are the only ones trained to ignore a command if that command would entail danger to their human? The financial resource to train even one of these special four legged friend is phenomenal. And they are provided FOC to the suitable recipient. I heard today from Brent, a young man who started going blind at 16 from early onset macular degeneration. He credits his dog, Jayzee (I hope I spelt that right.) for his being there to speak to us. Not just as a staff member of Guide Dogs Qld, but being physically present. He went through some very dark times literally and psychologically before his dog arrived to give him the confidence to start living again. These little bundles grow up to become special entities who change the lives of people. What they do is priceless. 

Faith in humanity.

Friday 12th Sep
A friend in the US just made a note about faith in humanity. Sometimes I wonder where is "humanity" in the human condition. Most recently, our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia highlighted how inhumane and inhuman humans can be with evidence of the Civil wars and Khmer Rouge. We are lucky in Australia that there are the Guide Dogs who help blind people here to gain independence in their daily lives, unlike the countries I mentioned above. I'll make sure to take photos and post them as I go on this journey starting Tuesday. I get to see the facility in Bald Hills!

Please consider a donation to this special cause. I'll thank you, the Guide Dogs will thank you and most importantly, a blind person will thank you for giving them a new life.

Thank you to my Sponsors

$520

Michael Connick

Pinnacle Financial Planning proudly support David and his quest to raise awareness for Guide Dogs Australia. Good luck David.

$500

Karla Mckinlay

$263.75

Kim Crane

You encourage me to have more faith in the human spirit.

$211

David Chew

$200

Jason Dutton-smith

$158.25

Scott Christie

$154.65

Jo P

Enjoy the walk! A great cause.

$106.12

Helen Mair

Have a great walk!

$106.12

Ric Tina

enjoy

$103.72

Steph Smith

Great cause David; have a fun time!

$54.12

Robyn Rea

Great cause David, and we need to keep you guys busy doing something! I wonder why guide cats aren't a thing?!!

$54.12

Wendy Platt

Well done David such a worthy cause

$54.12

Annette Rooney

Good on you both, a great cause.

$54.12

Jules Wright

$54.12

Nicky Tomkin

$43.60

Angela Marchant

Happy birthday in place of the christmas puds

$43.60

Penny Colasante

Great work guys. Love your work.

$43.60

Bryan

$40

Dinah Tan

Glad to see that you are doing this trek for such a good cause!

$40

Ai-leen Tan

Glad that you are taking up this challenge to raise funds for such a good cause.

$33.15

Gemma Marchant

Amazing work David and Tony

$27.81

Anonymous

Happy birthday David!

$22.58

Anonymous