The money raised will goes towards research and support for all genetic eye conditions. Retinitis Pigmentosa, Macular Degeneration, Stargardt Disease and Usher Syndrome are some of the many genetic eye conditions that Retina Australia supports.

www.ride4retina.com  (18th – 24th September)
I am really excited about this upcoming fundraising and awareness ride. This is the first time ever that I have been invited to take part in a long distance cycling event.

As a Guide Dog, I will certainly pull my weight during this ride. I will look out of the car window in between my snoozes to ensure we are heading in the right direction. I will also ensure that the riders are not overeating by consuming any extra food left in the car. Of course, I will help with the fundraising effort whenever we stop at towns along the way.

Among all the charities that Lindy and I support, this is certainly the one that Lindy is most passionate about. I really do not mind if I lose my job as a Guide Dog because a cure is found for Lindy and all the people who are affected by genetic blindness. At least Lindy will not try and put my harness over my backside instead of my head any more!

Rosemary and Elton will take turns as pilot for Lindy. Matt Formston, who has Macular Degeneration, and John Domandl, who also has RP, will join them as well as four other riders and the support team. You can find out more about their ride as well as the team on the website www.ride4retina.com.

You can also support them by making a tax deducible donation via the www.ride4retina.com website.

To find out more about the work that Retina Australia NSW is doing as well as other ways that you can support the work that they do go to www.retinaaustralia.com.au

The ride (September)
Sun 18th                 Gold Coast to Casino 156km
Mon 19th                 Casino to Coffs Harbour 184km
Tues 20th               Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie 161km
Wed 21st                 Port Macquarie to Nabiac 104km
Thur 22nd               Nabiac to Newcastle 145km
Fri 23rd                  Newcastle to Terrigal 77km
Sat 24th                  Terrigal to Manly 60km
  Total   887km

Join the Ride into Manly (Sat 24th September)
The team will leave Terrigal and ride to Ettalong�
9:30  catch Palm Beach Ferry
10:00  arrive Palm Beach
11:15-11:30 arrive Manly Life Saving Club
11:30 Welcome BBQ at Manly Life Saving Club

Please come along to the Manly Life Saving Club by 11am to welcome their arrival. They are expected to arrive around 11:15 to 11:30am.

For those of you who would like to accompany them by riding from Palm Beach, their ferry will arrive at Palm Beach at 10am. They will ride straight down Pittwater Road and turn at Harbord Road. Then through Cavill Street, Queenscliff Road, Greycliffe Street, Bridge Road then along North & South Steyne to Manly Life Saving Club.

The team will aim at 25-30km/hr from Palm Beach. They will slow down to around 20-25km/hr from Dee Why. For those who wish to join them on a shorter and slower pace ride, opposite Dee Why Bike Hub (Dee Why cycle shop on Pittwater Rd) outside Dee Why RSL, would be a good joining point.

You can support the team & the ride by making a tax deductible donation via the website www.ride4retina.com

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All achievement begins by taking the first pedal stroke
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Woof Woof

Harper Hou
+61 (0) 2 6156 2964
+61 (0) 402 113 836
0425 262 033   (contact number during the ride)
harperhou@optusnet.com.au
www.lindyhou.com

and

a Happy New Year

from Harper & Lindy

I cannot believe that it has been a year since Lindy and I moved to Canberra. Where did the last 12 months go? We are still discovering new walking routes   and meeting new friends.

Some of this year’s highlights are:

-   I got my Half and Full Mara-Bone (Lindy completed the Canberra Half Marathon and the Melbourne Marathon)

-   Lindy reached a new milestone in her life and celebrated through the whole of February

-   Participating in the Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon

-   Being part of the FIT Team for the MS Mega 24 Hours Swim

-   Speaking experience in KL, Canberra & Sydney

-   Doggie Boot Camp, W.A.R.M in the snow, FIT Running camp and FIT NANA Triathlon camp

In this issue;

-   Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon

-   Ambassador for the upcoming City of Sydney Chinese New Year Festival

Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon

Last Sunday, I finally went to my first ever triathlon as a spectating Guide Dog. At 4:30am when all hard working guide dogs are having their well-earned sleep, I was woken when Lindy got up to get ready for the race.

As Lindy left for the race, she said something about Aunty Karen coming to pick me up. I promptly went back to sleep, as I knew it would be a long day! True to her word, Aunty Karen came by a few hours later and took me to the Commonwealth Park.

The place was buzzing with excitement and there were lots of other supporters cheering on their friends and family members.

I managed to see Lindy coming back to the transition zone with her pilot Kerry Knowler. The transition zone has 6 steps, which they have to take their bike through. As Lindy cannot see steps they had to slow down! She finally got into her running shoes and took off for the 21.1 km run guided by Jane Grey.

Lindy estimated that she would take well over 2 hours to run that distance. No sooner did I settle down for a nap, everyone was yelling out Lindy’s name. I got up just in time to see Jane and Lindy run past. They passed me 4 times in total! I later learnt that it was a 2-lap course, going out one direction then back and out in the other. It was great for the spectators but not much good for a guide dog who wants a nap!

The FIT cheer squad was awesome. After Lindy passed me a couple of times, I gave up trying to nap and got into the spirit of cheering. I was real proud of Lindy when she came into the finishing straight. Lindy crossed the finish line in 5 hours 3 minutes and 6 seconds. The finishing area was so crowded that I had to wait a while before I was able to give her a big congratulation lick.

Lindy told me that all the spectators, volunteers and fellow competitors were very encouraging along the way. This helped make the race such a positive experience for everyone.

I think I should tell you that the Canberra Half Ironman ended up being a Duathlon with a 4 km run, 85.5km cycle and finishing up with a 21.1km run. This was because the swim leg was cancelled due to Lake Burley Griffin being closed through flooding.

Huge thanks must go to Lindy’s three guides for the race, Rosemary, Kerry and Jane. Jane for guiding, encouraging and ‘pushing’ Lindy through the runs, Kerry for stepping in at the last minute and getting them a fast time on the bike, and Rosemary who was going to swim with Lindy as well as the backup for the bike leg as well. Thanks also to the FIT cheer squad and the FIT crew at the recovery food tent.

The best part of the day was the recovery session. The fruit salad and ice cream from the FIT recovery tent, more than made up for the Mara-bone that I could not find.

Ambassador for the upcoming Chinese New Year

Lindy has been invited by the City of Sydney to be one of the Ambassadors for the City of Sydney Chinese New Year Festival. One of her main duties will be to perform the “Eye Dotting” ceremony and the blessing of the waters before the start of the Dragon Boat Races on the 12^th February.

Lindy will be “awakening” the dragon, by dabbing red paint on the eyes of each of the dragon boats. My Guide Dog duty does not extend to finding Dragon’s eyes, so don’t hold me responsible if the Dragons look half asleep because Lindy misses some of the eyes!!

The New Year Festival begins with an exciting launch at Belmore Park on Friday the 28^th January, where Lion and Dragon dances, along with firecrackers, will farewell the Year of the Tiger.

Then on Sunday 6^th February, the Chinese New Year Twilight Parade will be a dazzling spectacle as it makes its way from Sydney Town Hall to Chinatown, with the evening ending with a special Chinese New Year fireworks display at Darling Harbour. This year’s parade will welcome in the Year of the Rabbit with a message of peace, beauty, endurance and hope.

You can find out all about this Festival via the website:

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/cny/Events/Default.aspx

I Wish you Enough

I wish you have a life filled with enough good things to sustain you

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how grey the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. 

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. 

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger. 

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.  

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

For my four-legged friends

I wish you enough bones to keep your teeth nice and healthy.

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That’s about it for this month’s message from the Black Labrador.

Remember :

“If you are not enough without it, you will never be enough with it”

===========================================================

Woof Woof

Harper Hou

+61 (0) 2 6156 2964

+61 (0) 402 113 836

harperhou@optusnet.com.au

http://www.lindyhou.com/

Since the August issue, I had a Queensland holiday, went to the School Girls Breakfast, attended the Spastic Centre “Emerge - Empowering Young Leaders Conference”, got my Mara-bone and Lindy started to compete in triathlon again.

In this issue;

-         I Got My whole Mara-bone;

-         Emerge - Empowering Young Leaders Conference;

-         Lindy’s first triathlon in 16 years;

I Got my Whole Mara-Bone

In the July issue, I told you the story about how I got my Half Mara-bone. I also told you how excited I was when I overheard Lindy’s plans to get me a Whole Mara-bone from Melbourne.

Well! Lindy was true to her word. She left for Melbourne on Saturday 9^th October and I got the Whole Mara-bone handed to me the next day at the Carter’s resort. It was very yummy and I spent hours chewing it.

After having a nap, I started to look for Lindy. She was nowhere to be seen! When Amanda noticed that I was looking for Lindy, she told me that Lindy is still in Melbourne and will be back the next day.

I wonder how Lindy got the Mara-Bone to me so quickly. I read in the Harry Porter’s book that Witchery can transport special items through the chimney. But the Carter’s resort does not have a chimney. I am confused !!

Anyway, after Lindy got back from Melbourne, she told me how she got me the Mara-bone. To this day, she still has not disclosed how she transported that Mara-bone to me!

Michael, the bull dozer and Ellis, the Achilles president came down from Sydney to Melbourne to guide Lindy. They also recruited Andrew from Melbourne to ensure that they had all bases covered.

The Quad started the Marathon in the middle of the bunch. Michael and Andrew clearing the path and Ellis guiding Lindy on the strap. Throughout the race, the trio swapped around between guiding, clearing the path, refreshment stops as well as disappearing to the nearest comfort stops.

Lindy used the system of running 10 minutes and walk for 1 minute. This way, Lindy can hydrate and fuel up on a regular basis. The aim was to go out on a 6 minute per km pace and try to maintain the pace for as long as possible. Her overall aim was to go under 4 hours 30 minutes. To Lindy’s surprise, she went through the half marathon mark at 2 hour and 2 minutes, which is some 4 minute faster than the planned pace. It was also some 4 minutes faster than her Half Marathon result in May

She felt very good at that point. Her legs felt fine and her steps were not labouring. Her breathing was very easy. She was even told by her guides that she was talking too much. That is so uncharacteristic of Lindy!

They maintained that pace for the next 10 kilometers.  It was around the 32km mark that Lindy’s conversation slowed down. She said something about conserving energy. I think the pain in her legs made it harder for her to talk. Then again, what does a black Labrador Guide Dog know about pain from running. I generally sprint around the oval and only ever jog for a couple of kilometers at a time.

Although the last few kilometers were hard, the support from the crowd, especially from those FIT ladies who ran the shorter races earlier, helped push her on to Melbourne Cricket Ground. Lindy was so excited about finishing her first ever Marathon that she forgot to “look around” and soak up the atmosphere at the MCG.

The official finish time was 4 hours 10 minutes and 37 seconds which was some 3 seconds per kilometer under the planned pace.

Thanks must go to Michael, Andrew and Ellis for guiding her and givinge her lots of encouragement along the way. More importantly, for putting up with her conversation throughout the run! You now get to appreciate what I have to put up with all the time!! It’s a dog’s life!

Emerge - Empowering Young Leaders Conference

The Spastic Centre of NSW runs an Emerge - Empowering Young Leaders program to pair up young people with cerebral palsy and mentors from the business community. The mentors work with these young people for a year. They meet on a regular basis.  The aim is to help these young people to become future leaders of the community.

At the end of the program, the Spastic Centre puts on a conference and invites other young people with disability to attend as well. Lindy was honoured to be asked to speak at the Conference.

Lindy spoke on “Goal Setting to achieve one’s Life Dream”. The audience was very responsive. I even had trouble getting my usual dog nap in during the presentation. It was wonderful to see so many young people motivated and getting on with their lives despite their disability. The theme of “making the most of one’s ABILITY” was truly demonstrated.

Lindy’s First Triathlon in 16 Years

As part of Lindy’s preparation for the Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon, Lindy entered into the Sri Chimnoy Sprint Distance Triathlon on the 30^th October.  It was the first triathlon she had competed in since the World Masters Games 16 years ago.

In 1994, as Lindy’s eyesight was slowly deteriorating, Lindy found it harder and harder to continue with triathlons. She decided to make the Brisbane World Masters Games her swan song.

It was a great way to finish her triathlon career. For a poor swimmer, the swim was with the current. In fact the current was so strong that a few people nearly missed the swim exit! The ride was around the World Expo site and capped off with the run around the river foreshore.

Some 16 years later, Lindy once again put on the wet suit for the 500 meters swim. This time she had Rosemary to guide her. The pair had a strap around each of their waists and they were connected with a surf board rope.  Rosemary swam on Lindy’s right side. If Lindy felt the rope tighten up, she needed to swim more to the right. If she got too close to Rosemary, she needed to swim more to the left. So it was like playing the pinball machine, go left! Go right! And so on… They had to swim parallel to each other otherwise the rope would get in the way of the arms. There goes the idea of Rosemary tolling Lindy through the swim!

They started at the back of the women’s wave. When they hit the cold patch on the lake some 50 metres out from the beach, Lindy had trouble exhaling with her head in the water. It took a bit of breaststroking to settle her breathing down. After being passed by two men’s waves, Lindy & Rosemary finally reached the beach.

The transition took so long that Rosemary was going to do her make-up while waiting for Lindy to get out of her wetsuit! What happened to just like ‘peeling off the banana skin’ method?

The 20km ride on the tandem was great. They passed over 50 bikes during the bike leg. Is it fair to count those bikes that had flat tyres?

The 5km run leg was a bit of a challenge. The pair didn’t expect a bush run on a single track. Lindy found it harder to get her footing on uneven ground as she can’t see the surface properly. It  was topped off with a huge fallen tree across the track. At once stage, Rosemary thought she was guiding Lindy on the Kokoda Track!

After this race, Lindy certainly realized she needs a lot more open water swimming practice. Since that race, she has entered into the TACT  Aquathlon series as well as going to the FIT  Open Swim Training session.

On the 12^th December, Lindy will compete in the Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon. It is a 1.9km swim, 92km cycle and 21.1km run and Lindy will be guided by Rosemary, Tracey and Jane. Look for the race info in the December newsletter.

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That’s about it for this month’s message from the Black Labrador.

Remember :

“Turn challenges into Opportunities”

===========================================================

Woof Woof

Harper Hou

+61 (0) 2 6156 2964

+61 (0) 402 113 836

harperhou@optusnet.com.au

http://www.lindyhou.com/

August started with a W.A.R.M week in the snow, followed by the City to Surf “Fun” run. The rest of the month was filled with preparation for the Mara-bone in Melbourne, as well as meetings and lectures.

Inside this issue:
- W.A.R.M. week in the snow
- City to Surf “Fun” Run

W.A.R.M Week in the Snow

Who else could dream up a name called ‘WARM Week’ in the snow, except the instructors from Guide Dogs NSW/ACT? The full title of the week is “Winter Alpine and Rural Mobility Week”.

When Lindy was invited to attend, she was worried about how cold it would be up in the snowfields. However, the weather turned out perfectly - record snow falls three days before we got there, and then sunny and calm while we were there.  I guess it was a warm week after all!

The purpose of the week was to provide clients of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT with an opportunity to experience traveling over different types of environment. The instructors showed Lindy and the seven other participants, different types of canes and techniques that are useful in rural travel.

The group tried out a new talking GPS system and we managed to navigate our way to the coffee shop. It certainly is a very important tool. Also, the humans in the group with limited vision, were taught how to use the sun to navigate through open rural areas. Mitch (my Labrador workmate) and I have our own unique way of navigating in open space, however we were not prepared to share this with our human handlers.

Lindy and the other vision impaired clients spent two mornings learning to cross-country ski. Their instructor Bruce gave them very helpful training and they were given an individual guide to ensure none of them get lost. Thanks to these guides, there were relatively few falls!

Mitch and I spent those two mornings hanging out at the bar. We had to turn down the many shouts that were offered, as we needed to be on duty for the rest of the day and couldn’t afford to be drunk on the job. We hope those humans recognize what we had to give up for them!

On the “snowshoes” day, I joined Lindy and the group, to snowshoe from Perisher to Smiggins. They couldn’t find any snowshoes to fit my paws, so I just walked with bare paws. It was fine until I decided to check out a tree off the main track. My paws sunk straight into the soft snow, so when I finally got to the tree, only part of my body and head was visible above the snow. I couldn’t lift my leg at all!!!

 Lindy, with the help of the guides, built me a snowman and we posed for photos. You can see some of the photos from the W.A.R.M. week by following this link http://www.altitudeimages.com/gallery_193640.html

We had a snow fight while we were there. The instructors and guides were great sports, and they called out to the blinkies so the instructors and guides could  be located and “snow-balled”!! It was a definitely fair fight. A few direct hits were landed, but no knockouts. Mitch and I awarded them a draw on points.
City to Surf ‘Fun’ Run
This year marked the 40th Anniversary of the Sun-Herald City to Surf. A record field of 80,000 people registered to take part in the 14km run from Sydney to Bondi Beach.

The first time Lindy ran in the City to Surf was in 1977. Lindy was able to see then and didn’t need a guide! She had entered with two of her schoolmates, Maureen Cummings and Alison Howell-Smith and the trio finished 3rd in the “School Girl Team” category!

Some 33 years later, Lindy fronted up to the start line with two of the Achilles runners as her guides, Michael Lovric  and Daniel Barnett. As a Labrador Guide Dog, I was not suitable to guide Lindy in this race. I am vertically challenged. Those mad runners would not see me at all or would keep on stepping on my tail.

Lindy and her guides started in the second last wave, just in front of the prams and strollers group! Their wave started so far behind the race leaders, that the race winners were announced while Lindy and her guides were still waiting at the start line. Thus all the runners around them were resigned to the fact that they wouldn’t get the line honors!

Once they started the race, Michael led the trio through the thousands of runners and walkers. Michael yelled from start to finish “Blind Runners coming through”. Most of the runners and walkers were very accommodating and opened up gaps so the trio could get through. On some occasions, the message was drowned out by I-Pods, bands playing music or plastic cups being stepped on around drink stations. Michael, (knick-named “the bulldozer”) was somehow able to carve a way through anyway.

Dan led Lindy with a wrist strap between them, from start to finish. He ensured Lindy followed closely behind Michael, slipping through narrow gaps in the crowd of runners, and managed to avoided all the “cateyes” and potholes in the road along the way.

The trio registered an official time of 82.5 minutes. This was a 15-minute improvement from last year. Michael did such a great job of making a bee-line down the middle of the road, that they only ran an extra 200 meters over the official race distance of 14 kilometers. Very Special Thanks must go to Michael and Dan for making sure Lindy got to the finish line safely.

At the end of the event, Lindy was rewarded with a yummy lunch at the Coogee Bay Hotel and I had a holiday in Canberra at Andrea’s family resort.

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That’s about it for this month’s message from the Black Labrador.

Watch out next issue for the Melbourne Mara-bone preparation update

Remember :

“Enjoy your achievements, especially the journey along the way”

===========================================================

Woof Woof

Harper Hou
+61 (0) 2 6156 2964
+61 (0) 402 113 836
harperhou@optusnet.com.au
www.lindyhou.com

The last three months, Lindy had participated in the MS Mega Swim, ran the Canberra Half Marathon, went to the FIT Running Camp, had a heart procedure to correct the Atrial Fibruation problem and been training hard for the City to Surf.

Inside this issue, I will fill you in with all the news from May and June as well!
- MS Mega Swim
- Getting a Half Mara-bone
- The FIT Running Camp
- Support the Achilles Running Club through the City to Surf

MS Mega Swim on the 1st and 2nd May

Lindy and her 22 club mates from Female in Training (FIT) were one of over 20 teams participating in the 24 hours MS Mega Swim at the AIS Swimming Pool.
The FIT team swam a total of 55.5 km in 24 hours with Lindy contributed 2.5km in one hour.

The team raised nearly $9,000. Thank you so much to all of you who donated to this wonderful cause.

Getting a Half Mara-Bone

 Early in February, I overheard Lindy told a friend that she was  going to get me half a Mara-bone. Well, she actually said Half a Marathon, but being a smart Guide Dog, I knew she really meant Half a Mara-bone.

It must have been some project. She started to plan how to get this bone, and even have a program to do it. She said she had to get running fit and start running with President Di on Tuesday and Saturday morning. I offered to guide her but she said the doggie intervals between trees were not what she needed.

I was not going to lend President Di my harness. I am really processive about it! So Di resorted  to use a rope with two loops.  They started with some short slow runs until Lindy gained confidence to go quicker.

Lindy eventually got enough confidence to run on her own. The bike path near home has a white line in the middle of the path that she can just made out. She only had one spill in the 3 months of training!

I did help her out when she did intervals on the soccer field. She ran back and forward between the goal poles every 40 seconds. I turned early, Labrador knows how to save energy.

Although I didn’t join Lindy and the FIT’s ladies for those Saturday morning runs, I heard reports from my friends around Canberra. My Giraffe friend saw them taking a short cut near the Zoo and abseiled down some roc face using tree branches as rope. After that incident, Lindy not only guided with a rope, she also followed other FIT members to ensure no more short cuts! Thanks Penny, Sue, Julianne, Natelie, Michelle and many more for making sure Lindy got back from the run each time.

Di and Lindy had a great plan for the Half Mara-bone, but Di’s leg gave her problem 2 weeks out from the  Mara-bone day. Running coach, Jane Gray ‘came to our aid and guide Lindy on the big day.

On the 2nd of May, Lindy got up at 5am to get ready. I knew that day must have been important, she left wearing the sign “Blind Runner” on her running singlet.

Lindy didn’t have the best day, but she was able to get me that half Mara-bone. She had plenty of encouragement from the FIT members who kept on popping up at each corner. Jane not only guided Lindy to get that bone, she also gave her a scenic tour of Canberra by describing the sight along the way.

She came home with that great big Mara-bone. I spent the afternoon in the backyard chewing my bone while Lindy had a bath and lay in front of the TV.

I know I am the luckiest Guide Dog in Canberra. Who else would have gone to that much trouble to get their Guide Dog that Mara-bone! I just heard that she is going to Melbourne to get me a whole Mara-bone later on this year.

Yum!  I can’t wait.

FIT Running Camp
I went away to the Sports and Recreation Camp down the South Coast with the FIT ladies in the middle of May.

The coach ride down on Friday evening was a bit scary. We came upon the tragic bus accident going down one of the steep mountain. Our driver used his incredible skill to turn the coach around.

On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I stay in bed when the others went for the morning runs. I got up in time for breakfast. I totally enjoyed the yoga sessions. The soft music was perfect to snooze to.

Lindy also did the rope climbing session ran by the Sports and recreation staff. She found herself in some ahcould situations. Through the verbal assistance from the others, she managed to climb up some rock walls. I was happy to watch as I can not see any sense in working up a sweat to climb up the wall only to be lower back down to the ground!

There were running lecture fill with amazing footage of all different running styles. Coach Jane gave advices on the correct running form. I demenstrated while Sandy gave the lecture on Overtraining and Recovery.  You guested right, I slept through it. Lindy gave a short session on “Mental Preparation for Sports” and it was well received.

The highlight of the camp was the trivial pursuit evening. Apart from answering the questions, each table also have to sing a song. I contributed to the team score by showing off my dance skill. It probably help by having four paws to put in those amazing strange moves!

 I certainly had a great camp and judging from the conversations I heard on the way back, everyone else did as well. I do look forward for more FIT camps.

Support the Achilles Running Club through the City  to Surf
The Achilles Running Club’s motto is to help people who would like to walk and run. It started many years ago in New York by a blind runner and his friend. It now had clubs all over the world. Lindy joined the Sydney club in  2009 and rediscovered how much she enjoys running.

You can find out more about the club through the following website
http://www.achilles-sydney.org.au/

You can support the club through making a donation for the City to Surf.
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/Lindy_Hou_7745

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Watch the August issue about the W.A.R.M week down the snow.,

On this note don’t forget:

“All Great Adventures begin with one small Steps”
===========================================================

Woof Woof

Harper Hou
+61 (0) 2 6156 2964
+61 (0) 402 113 836
harperhou@optusnet.com.au
www.lindyhou.com

April is also when daylight savings finishes and we get an extra hour of daylight in the morning. Lindy can now see the footpath to run with the FIT group. I on the other paw, just keep on sleeping on.

In this issue:

-         MS Mega Swim on the 1^st and 2^nd May

-         International Guide Dogs Week (26 April to 2 May)

-         Violin Lessons

-         Blind Courage Cycle from Perth to Sydney

-         Dawn Service on ANZAC Day

 MS Mega Swim on the 1^st and 2^nd May

Lindy’s training is going really well. She managed to swim a whole 2 kilometers without hitting the lane rope. If you are in Canberra, come and cheer her on at the AIS Swimming Pool at 12 noon on Saturday. She is on target to swim for at least 2 kilometers in that hour.

Thank you to many of you who have donated to Lindy and her FIT team for their MS Mega Swim. They are leading the charge in the donation department for raising funds for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis. If you wish to donate and have not done so, you still have time. Just follow the link http://events.megaswim.com/?lindyhou

Apart from supporting a good cause, you can also take the opportunity to get a tax deduction for 2009/2010 tax year.

 International Guide Dogs Week (26 April to 2 May)

This is one week of the year that we, the Guide Dogs, get to be recognized for the work that we do for our Human Handlers. My 4-legged work mates and I are sending out the message to the public about “Please do not disturb” us while we are working.

How come you humans don’t walk up to a police officer and pat he or she on the head while they are in uniform. And yet you come up to us, the guide dogs, and pat us on the head while we are in our uniform! Sometimes we wonder what you humans are thinking.

We also try to educate the public about keeping their pet dogs on the lead and not to let them walk right up to us while we are working.

Jay, a Canberra lady, had to retire her guide dog a few days ago as her dog is now too traumatised to work, after being attacked by an off-lead dog. Apart from costing $30,000 to train a guide dog, there is also the time and emotional cost for the handler and trainer. Luckily for me, my nearest nasty experience was when I was confronted by a large off-lead German Shepherd. He left me alone after circling Lindy & I a few times. I still remember how shaking Lindy was that day. I pretended to be brave!

 Violin Lessons

I have been busy checking out the Guide Dogs Reference Manual and can’t find anything about supervising music lessons. Well, I know when I took on this job with Lindy that she did mention about extra duties. However she didn’t say anything 6 years ago about wanting to learn violin!

Lindy’s family bought her a violin for her BIG birthday. It is something that she had always wanted to learn since she was a little kid. So being the wonderful Guide Dog that I am, I will just lie here and put up with the awful noise!

That violin thing is only just starting to make some sensible noise now, and I overheard her teacher say that Lindy will be able to start playing some tunes next week. Oh please! Please! I can only put up with the noise for so long.

I certainly will demand a big bonus at the end of the year to compensate for all these extra duties.

 Blind Courage Cycle from Perth to Sydney

Lorin and Dean Nicholson have embarked on an epic tandem bike ride, “Blind Challenge” to raise $300,000 for Vision Australia - $1 for every person who is blind or has low vision in Australia. They also aim to create awareness of the significant abilities of people who are blind or have low vision.

The Brisbane-based siblings departed from Perth on 29 March with their pilots John and Grant for their 4000km journey across Australia. They reached the Sydney Opera House on Monday 26^th April.

On Friday, 23^rd April, they rode from Gundagai to Canberra. Lindy rode out to Yass to meet the boys with her pilot Elton and rode in with them. Lindy’s was just a 110km round trip which is very short compared to the 4,000km they are riding!

The group then met another 8 tandem and single bikes just on the outskirts of Canberra City . The pelaton then rode the last 7km to Garema Place with police escort. This is possibly the largest gathering of tandem bikes in Canberra.

The diary of their journey can be viewed on http://www.blindcourage.com/

Please support the riders and the work of Vision Australia by donating through :http://www.blindcourage.com/?page_id=91

 Dawn Service on ANZAC Day

For those overseas readers, ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

Lindy & I attended the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial on Anzac morning. We got up at 3:30 am and caught the shuttle bus to the War Memorial. This is the earliest I have ever got up but I definitely wasn’t going to let Skinny Harper (the Long White Cane) take my place. We were with Lindy’s nephew-in-law, Stephen, and his daughters Georgia and Lilly who are 7 and 5 years old. John, Stephen’s friend, helped me guide Lindy through the crowd.

It was a beautiful morning with a sky full of stars. We were among the 20,000 people who attended the service. The service only took 30 minutes but it was one of the most moving 30 minutes that Lindy & I had experienced.

I was amazed to see how many young people were there to commemorate the men and women who gave their lives for Australia. When we had the minute silence, you could have heard a pin drop among the 20,000 people.

The lady who sat next to us on the shuttle bus, told us that her father was in the Light Horse Brigade during the 1^st World War. When they came back to Australia, they were not allowed to bring their horses back. They had to shoot all their horses before they left. It certainly brought tears to our eyes. Lindy gets sad when I am not well, let alone…..

ANZAC Day certainly is not a day to glorify wars, but rather a day to reflect and commemorate. If only the human race could be nice to each other!!

On this note don’t forget:

“Be nice to each other and treat others like the way we want to be treated”

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Woof Woof

 Harper Hou

+61 (0) 2 6156 2964

+61 (0) 402 113 836

harperhou@optusnet.com.au

www.lindyhou.com

Since my last newsletter, I have been busy helping Lindy celebrate her birthday. I guess a huge milestone needs a whole month to get through.

In this issue:

-         Paws Camp for Dogs

-         MS Mega Swim

-         Training for Canberra Half Marathon

-         Speaking experience at KL

-         Website updated

 Paws Camp for Dogs

Early this month, while Lindy went to the Gold Coast for a family holiday, I was enrolled in the Robinson’s Paws Camp for Dogs.

This is the K9 version of a fitness program. It is like Boot Camp for humans, except this is a lot more fun! We, Robbie the white Labrador  & I, get to run through the bush and swim in the creek. Instead of being yelled at by the instructor to go faster and harder, instructor Rosemary just whistled for us to go to her for treats whenever we slowed down too much. Maybe the human Boot Camp instructors can take a lesson from our Paws Camp and hand out chocolate treats at the end of each work out.

 MS Mega Swim on the 1^st and 2^nd May

Lindy has joined the FIT (Females in Training) 24 hours Mega Swim team to raise money for MS. Oh! Don’t be alarmed, she is not going to swim the whole 24 hours. She will be one of the 24 FIT members who will swim an hour each.

This will still be a feat for Lindy as she has never swum for an hour non-stop. The last time she did a long swim was before I was born, back in the early 90’s when she was able to see. Now she can just make out the black line in the pool (sometimes!)  Doggie Bets is taking bets on how many times she will swim into the lane rope.

The MS Mega Swim aims to raise funds for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis. MS is the most common disease of the central nervous system and affects over 18,000 Australians. We were surprised to find out that the average age of diagnosis is 30 and MS affects three times as many women as men.

Some of us probably know someone who is affected by this condition. Lindy knows two people, a cousin and a Triathlete friend. If you would like to support Lindy and her FIT team or to find out more about the Mega Swim, you can go into the following website.

http://events.megaswim.com/?lindyhou

 Training for Canberra Half Marathon - 2^nd May

Lindy has been busy training for the Canberra Half Marathon. Di, the president of FIT, has been her main guide with the help of many other FIT members. When it is really dark in the morning, Di and Lindy hold on to a short rope so Lindy does not head off into the bush or have another lake experience. Once it is light enough and the surface is OK, they can drop the rope and Lindy just follows another runner in the group.

Thanks everyone for doing such a great job as this certainly relieves me of guiding duties while she is out running. I have actually checked out the Guide Dog Duty Handbook and have not found the bit about being a Running Guide Dog.

There is talk at the Doggie Park about what Lindy is up to as she is doing the MS Mega swim, training for the Canberra Half Marathon and is still seen on the tandem bike around Canberra.

Alright! Alright! The cat is out of the bag. Yes, she is going back to do triathlon – the sport that she first took up in 1989. Back then she was having more and more trouble seeing the balls in squash, softball and hockey, so she decided triathlon was the go. She had to learn to swim and got herself a bike. Back then no one told her that it helps to be able to see well to corner and go down hill properly. She finally had to stop her triathlon because of her reducing sight.

It has now been 14 years since she competed in an Olympic distance triathlon. It was the 1994 World Master Games in Brisbane. Lindy has set her sights on the Ironman! Her ultimum goal is the Hawaii Ironman in October 2011. However there will be many stepping-stones along the way.

I get tired just listening to Lindy making her plans, but I will try to keep you informed of what is going on.

 Speaking Experience at KL

Early this year, while I went to the Carter’s holiday farm, Lindy went to Malaysia to speak at the Prudential Malaysia Insurance Company’s National Conference.

It was a conference for 5,400 people. I was a bit nervous for Lindy, as this is the largest audience she has faced without my help.

Lindy has spoken to larger audiences such as the Thank You Speech on behalf of the Paralympic Team in front of Sydney Town Hall after the Beijing Games. Then again I was there to help her.

I am glad that Lindy’s Presentation in KL was a success. She received great feedback from Charlie Oropeza the CEO of the company.

His comments were:.

“It was very inspiring to hear how you managed to rise above the challenges that you faced. This could have been a “heavy” presentation. Your humorous

and down to earth delivery was very effective.  We will keep you in mind for future engagements and share your information with our colleagues around the

region”

This certainly is a great way for Lindy to launch her Speaking Career. Her next talk will be at the Capital Region BEC Networking Breakfast on the Tuesday 6^th April. The details is on the following website.

www.crbec.com.au 

 Website Updated www.lindyhou.com

Lindy’s website has been recently updated. It now has a number of video clips. My favorite one is of her Sky Diving. You can all share her experience through the video. Lindy may not be the prettiest Sky Diver around, but I am still proud of her. After seeing the look on Lindy’s face, I am glad that I didn’t have to guide her through the Sky. I would have passed out once we jumped out of the plane!

Other clips are

-         Lindy’s Promo

-         Interview with Lindy

-         SBS World News

The most important part of her website is the Blog that contains all my previous newsletters.

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“Attitude determines success”

Woof Woof

 Harper Hou

+61 (0) 2 6156 2964

+61 (0) 402 113 836

harperhou@optusnet.com.au

www.lindyhou.com

Lindy and I are home now for 8 days before she takes off again to the United States with her family. I will stay with the Gould family this time for two weeks. This will be my last holiday for the year, as I will have used up all my annual leave and long service leave!

It is great to spend time with my friends and check out different dog parks. We often meet new friends and have different dogs to play chasing with. However, one thing about being a celebrity dog is that people still recognize me wherever I go!

I haven’t got a lot to report this issue, so I will let Lindy tell you about the Cairns to Melbourne ride.

Bike for Bibles - Cairns to Melbourne Inland Ride

Rosemary and I rode a tandem bike, along with 12 other single bikes, from Cairns to Melbourne & covered a distance of 3,242 km. The ride took us exactly 4 weeks, with 4 rest days during this period. 4 vehicles, 10 road crews and many churches supported us along the way & during the month-long ride, the temperatures ranged from 1 to 44 degree C!!

The longest day was 207 km taking 7 hours 59 minutes on the saddle, while the biggest day for climbing was 2,086 meters, when we rode out of Cairns on the first day. The total time spent on the saddle for the month was 124 hours and 30 minutes, with an overall average speed for the whole ride of 26.3 km/hr. 

One of our roadies, Graeme Keast, has a very good website, where he has reported the whole ride, with photos and comments. For those of you who would like to know more about the ride, this is certainly worth having a look at. Note: there are other blog entries after the one about the ride, so you may have to look further down the site. The website is: http://granomad.blogspot.com/

Some of my memorable moments on the trip were:

Guided Outer Reef Tour

With an instructor, I had a personalised snorkelling guided tour of the outer reef. I was able to have a close examination of the reef. The instructor gave me an in depth description of the natural habitats. It was a most enjoyable hour as I was able to relax & take in what I could with my limited sight, without worrying about having to find the boat to get back to Cairns!

Getting Lost in Roma

In Roma, we stayed in a church hall that has a separate building for the toilet. Before I went to bed, we came up with a system for me to find my way to the toilet & back. The system consisted of leaving the light on at the toilet block, as well as leaving the light on outside the church hall.

I had no trouble finding the toilet block, however the back door light for the church is only a security light and it had turned off by the time I had to aim for it on my return! I got totally lost and found myself standing on the side of the road wondering what to do next. I was going to flag down the first car that drove past to ask for the direction back to the church hall! As I was pondering how the driver would react to someone in pyjamas standing on the side of the road with a white cane, I heard people calling out my name. I was saved from spending the night on the street.

Someone had seen me going out to the toilet and when I didn’t return for a long time, decided to come looking for me. When she couldn’t find me, she alerted the rest of the group and a huge search party set about looking for me.

As we were spending two nights in Roma, many new strategies were suggested to ensure I didn’t run away again. One consisted of a retractable rope & another, a cowbell. Thank goodness none of these were needed, and I spent the next night safely.

“Behind the Scenes” Tour of Dubbo Zoo

With my very limited eyesight, I have very little chance of seeing any of animals at the Dubbo Zoo. A “behind the scenes” tour was organised for me by one of the other cyclists. I got to pat a rhino, nearly step on an echidna in their enclosure and receive kisses from the elephants.

It was great day out for me as I got to feel the animals and I learnt a lot of interesting information from the zookeepers. 

The whole bike trip has been full of many new experiences, with a wonderful group of people who are friendly, thoughtful and helpful. I certainly didn’t go hungry at any stage & I only got lost once (see above)! I didn’t lose anything along the way, as even my socks kept finding their way back to me!

Thank you to all those people who have sent in their donations. The money raised will certainly be put to good use through the Bible Society projects.

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That is about it from the Black Labrador Guide Dog from Beacon Hill.

I will write again after my next holiday.

“Prepare to push beyond our comfort zone. Achievements are made because we are prepare to push beyond the limit that we impose onto ourselves”

Woof Woof

Harper Hou

harperhou@optusnet.com.au

www.lindyhou.com