This week Sam speaks with Dale Pierce and Sharon Taylor, two participants heading along to take part in the Vision Australia Trek for Vision.
The trek takes place over five days from April 29 to May 3 2025 on the Abel Tasman track on the South Island of New Zealand, to raise vital funds for Vision Australia client services such as the quality living groups helping people navigate life with vision loss.
To donate to Dale and Sharon's trek you can visit this link to Dale's fundraising page or this link to Sharon's fundraising page
If you would like to join Dale and Sharon or find out more about Trek for Vision you can visit visionaustralia.org/trekforvision
From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's your host Sam Colley.
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness and low vision.
It's about getting the message out there that blind or low vision, people can do things that isn't just sedentary sitting inside and things like that. We can get out and do things like a five day trek and things like that, which is, I think, amazing to promote and say we can be active and we can be out there and enjoy life like everyone else.
Welcome to the program! This week we feature two participants in the Vision Australia Trek for vision, taking place over five days between April 29th and May third as they make their way through the Abel Tasman Track in the South Island of New Zealand to raise vital funds for Vision Australia's services to clients who are blind or have low vision. Their names are Dale Pearce and Sharon Taylor, and my interview with them takes up a majority of the programme this week. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy this episode of Talking Vision. I started by asking Dale to give an overview of the trick for vision.
So I've sort of kept an eye on it for the last year and looked at the last earlier this year's one. So it's a trick not just for vision impaired people, but for everyone that wants to join in to help raise money for the quality living programs that Vision Australia put on, which is really handy for a lot of blind and low vision people to connect with peers.
I will come back to that later on with you, because you've got quite a detailed involvement in that sort of area. So I'm keen to explore that a bit. But Sharon, I might go to you now and get your overview.
Yeah, sure. Sam. So as Dale mentioned, trick for vision is supporting Vision Australia services. It involves a 53 kilometre trek over five days. And it is in New Zealand along the Abel Tasman track. So it's graded I believe a three out of five. Is that correct, Dale? Yeah.
So moderate.
Moderate intensity. And yeah we're both really looking forward to it. Yeah.
How did you both get involved? Sharon, I might stay with you for a bit and get the story there.
Yeah, sure. Very interesting way that I got involved, Sam. Um, I was actually talking Dale into doing the trek because I. I just know that, uh, that is something that is right up Dale's alley. And I said, why don't you do this trek? You'd love it. It'd be great. And and then we we kind of toyed with the idea about maybe both doing it. And, um, Dale contacted me later that evening because typical of Dale, um, once he gets something in his mind, he's onto it straight away. Um, so he'd contacted VA regarding the trek that day that we talked about it and got on to me and said, Sharon, thereafter, a charity representative, you should apply. And I'm like, oh, okay. I'll have a think about it. And he said, well, you've got until tomorrow. And you're.
Right. Okay. Yeah, I'm a convincing person? Yes, certainly.
Yes, he is very convincing person. So I that night, um, typed up an application and submitted it.
Oh, wow. And I guess there's also it's worth mentioning that you've both had another relationship in terms of the fat sharing your, um, you've been dials on M for quite a little bit. So how did that start off and how long has that professional relationship been going on for? Yeah.
Um, so I consider myself very fortunate to work with Dale. He's fantastic person to work with, and he inspires me every time I work with him as well. But in terms of how that all came about, I might actually hand over to Dale because, um, certainly revolves around Dale taking the initiative to come to Vision Australia when he lost his vision. So if you don't mind, I'll hand over to Dale.
Absolutely.
So, yeah. So, Sam, I lost significant sight last year. In May or June. I was diagnosed legally blind, struggled for a few weeks figuring out what to do and if I needed mobility aids and all those things while I was waiting for funding and all those things to come through. And I got to the point that I was desperate for a cane because I was starting to grip and bump into things. So after a couple of phone calls to Vision Australia, I went, I'm just going to come into the Lucas store, which is my local one in Ballarat. And um, they ended up teeing up a day later or a couple of days later, um, for me to meet Sharon off the cuff. She had a cancellation. So we had an impromptu hour and a half together, give or take back in, I'll say probably August. Last year we had a very impromptu chat and lesson on cane training for a little bit, and since then we've clicked. It's been a great professional relationship in what we do. It's great understanding of Sharon's got the understanding of what I need, because I'm fairly out there and go getter, and I listen as best I can. We'll say that nicely. Um, and, um, yeah, so that's sort of how it first came about. So over the last 18 months, give or take, we touch base regularly. We chat regularly. We don't have a lot of sessions, but there's a lot of communication backwards and forwards when we need to about things I'm going to be doing in terms of travel or etc.. So Sharon gives massive amount of advice and guidance on what to do so that, um, I can be safe out there in the world when I go do it. So yeah, so that's sort of how it first came about.
It's really interesting to hear that it's progressed so quickly. And it's just over a year now. You've gone from, you know, meeting up for the first time and now you're going on a massive trek together. That's an amazing story. So I guess.
Yeah, part of that was when I did chat to Sharon about it, I thought about going on the one in March this year, but I ended up going to Kosciuszko at the same time and did a trek in Kosciuszko for a few days. So that sort of negated that. And then I was having a chat with Sharon only a couple of months ago, really. And my funding probably doesn't cover someone to support me. I don't need a lot of support, but it'd be nice to have someone around. And it was. How much support do you need? Dale from Sharon. So there was a bit of backwards and forwards and then sort of, as I say, once I get an idea in my head, I sort of run with it. So the phone call to the fundraising team and how we could go about things, and they said, oh, the charity rep spots open. So Sharon got a very quick phone call and a couple of weeks later got the nod to be the charity rep for Vision Australia, which is amazing. So she knows me well enough that she can support me in anything really technical I guess on the track, most of it I'll be fine on, but it's just those real. If there's anything a little bit more technical she can help guide me through to make sure I'm safe along with the other people in the group, obviously as well. So it's just nice to have someone around me that I know already. So yeah, so that's a real big bonus for me.
Absolutely. And Sharon, I might come back to you and get your thoughts on what you sort of really looking forward to on the track, both with dial and with the group more broadly?
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, definitely looking forward to going to New Zealand again. I have been once before, but I went to the North Island. Um, and I certainly didn't do any trekking, but I have done a charity trek before in my previous life. I guess I say BC before children and yeah, I had a fantastic time. It was just the most incredible experience doing something that, you know, is, you know, a bit challenging and perhaps something that you wouldn't necessarily normally do. But knowing that everybody that's on the trek is there for the same reason. And I believe that such things, I guess, attract like minded people. And consequently, you know, everybody tends to get along quite well. So I'm really looking forward to meeting the other participants who we are in contact with via a WhatsApp group we've got going the VA marketing team and intrepid as well, organized for us all to be connected via WhatsApp. Um, so we've started communicating with each other and yeah, sharing ideas and also updating, encouraging each other in terms of training. So yeah, very much looking forward to putting faces to names and and actually speaking I guess in person, but just the whole experience really too. Really looking forward to. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories and having a good laugh as well. You know, not taking life too seriously. And I think that, you know, really helps to enjoy the experience as well.
Certainly. And I'll come to you with the same sort of question, what's really jumping out for you as something, you know, really exciting or a few things that you're looking forward to?
Sure. Well, I've never been to New Zealand, so that's exciting for a start. Certainly. Um, so I'm going to be loving doing that. It is the connections with other blind, low vision people that are on the trek and anyone else on the trek for that matter as well. And just to get to meet new people and be inspired and motivated by them. And hopefully as much as I can inspire and motivate them at the same time. And then broadly, it's about getting the message out there that blind or low vision people can do things that isn't just sedentary sitting inside and things like that, we can get out and do things like a five day trek and things like that, which is, I think, amazing to promote and say we can be active and we can be out there and enjoy life like everyone else.
Within all of that, there are no doubt a few challenges and obstacles and things that you've faced at various points, but as we've mentioned, there's a lot of ways to adapt and overcome all those sort of things. But Dale, what have been some challenges you've faced with staying fit and making your way around new environments independently after you did experience vision loss? There's a lot of new adapting and making your way around in different ways. And how did you sort of navigate through that?
Yeah, the first six weeks, as I say, was difficult, and I battled through. To be honest, it was frustrating. It was agonizing at points. There was sadness and all the bits and bobs in between. but it was just learning to use a lot of take my time repetition type stuff. And then once I got the cane and a little bit of training from Sharon, which is excellent training because at the end of the day, I only took an hour and a half. Um.
That was all me. It was?
Yes. You know, I went, okay, I can do this. There was an okay, I can do this moment. And for that, then it was just okay. How do I go about getting out and about in daily life? For a start, that was the first port and getting to Melbourne and safely and to my hospital appointments and things like that from Ballarat. So I sort of slowly but surely over six months at least gradually broadened my horizons, I guess is the easiest way to say it. So, um, from the local shops to the CBD of Ballarat to Melbourne to what I needed to do and gain confidence doing that every time on my own. Through some support workers, I've been able to get out and about and get really active in terms of fitness. So I've got an amazing support team with Ballarat Care in Ballarat and I've got a running guide through them, so he takes me running every Saturday morning for my local park run, um, which is A5K event, and day one for that was January this year. So the doctors allowed me to start running due to my health. So then we started doing that and we've built up from there. And um, in terms of the fitness and training things, I'm probably, I'll say, a very active person, um, very fit compared to a lot. So I've competed in a half marathon and a couple of other major events, including one Just gone this weekend, which was in Halls Gap in the Grampians called the GTP 100. And um, I will say it was challenging because it was some of the most technical terrain in Australia to cover as a blind, low vision person or as any person. More to the point, and my guide and I navigated 20 something kilometers of that. Wow. Um. Which is amazing. So, um, it was a very intense weekend, but we've got so much trust in each other. We just get out there and do our thing, which is awesome. And that's where the training side of things. I've got a treadmill at home, so I punch hours away on the treadmill just to keep up fitness because I can't have him all the time with me. But we get out at least once a week and do something fitness wise out there so I can feel the earth under my feet, so to speak, and understand what those nuances are so that I keep safe.
On Sam Culley and you're listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio, Associated Stations of Reading Radio and the Community Radio Network. That concludes part one of my conversation with Dale Pearce and Sharon Taylor, two of the participants in next year's trek for vision. If you missed any part of that conversation with Dale and Sharon, Talking Vision is available on the Vision Australia Radio website. Simply head to VA radio.org. That's VA radio.org to hear the full show. You can also find Talking Vision on the podcast app of your choice or through the Vision Australia library. And now please enjoy part two of my conversation with Dale and Sharon. Sharon, what's it been like to, um, experience those breakthroughs with Dale and help each other through various situations and get the feedback and have that assistance there, and how does that feel to be able to do that and see this person doing these amazing, you know, half marathons and going on this trek and all that sort of thing.
He's a bit of a show off, isn't he?
Yeah.
Yeah. Look, as I said, Dale inspires me as well. He, you know, from what he went through that would have broken anybody. But Dale kind of picked himself up and just went. You know what? What do I need to do? And just kept looking forward rather than looking back. And yeah, it just has such a positive, motivating attitude and it's infectious. You can't help but absorb that. And as Dale mentioned, like in terms of orientation and mobility training, having sight beforehand and a good mental mapping skills as well, good spatial abilities. Dale picked it up really, really quickly and then just went with it. And then, you know, every, every so often I'd get a phone call or an email saying, Hey Sharon, when can you put me in next? I want to I want to do Melbourne. I want to, you know, learn the trams or, you know, the different travel routes to the inner hospital. And it was just go, go, go. Which is fantastic. And yeah, he's just, you know, always looking for, you know, the next challenge. And yeah, I feel very lazy compared to Daniel because I on the other hand, do not do half marathons.
So don't you worry.
Well actually no I do not do running. I enjoy walking, but that's as far as my exercise goes. But Dale and I have been we've started we've we've started on our training together. Of course, Dale does all his, you know, treadmill stuff and his five K runs every weekend. And he's half marathons here and there and in between time. But we've just started our training together for the trek. So we've been walking around Lake Wendouree at a decent pace, I guess. Yeah. And what would you say was that?
Six. Six kilometers? Yeah.
Six kilometers. So that's been really great. So, you know, we just, you know, chat about stuff and, you know, preparing what we need to think about, I guess for the trek and our ideas for fundraising and things like that. And I get.
Some cheeky O&M sessions in at the same time. So it's great. Oh.
Yeah.
Well, well, I also get to hang off your companion as well.
I do have a guide dog as well, Sam, so her name.
Is Anna.
So I've only had her a few months, so I'm still learning the process at the same time. But yeah, she's amazing for me as well. She's currently snoring underneath my feet, so yeah.
Oh, perfect.
So sometimes the training around the lake John has come out. Yeah. And other times you've used the cane which has been really great. So it's good to have I guess both experiences as well isn't it. Yeah.
So yeah. Because on the trek, Sam, I probably won't take Jana for the five days. It's as much. She's quite a young pup still. So while I've got the site level, I've got to save a lot of rigmarole and transitions for her. I'll probably just bored her for the week, and then I'll be able to do the trek with my cane and hiking poles and engage that way.
So yeah. And Dale, I'm keen to stay with you and get your input on why the trek is so important for the work that Vision Australia does. And this is where it sort of ties into what I was kind of foreshadowing at the beginning with your work on the CIJ, the client reference group, and how you got involved with that, and how that's all tying in with why this trek is so important to you in particular?
Yeah. So with the CRG, I've always been in a previous life I was a chef and mentor and quite a big industry advocate, doing a lot of actual advocacy work as well for young chefs and apprentices across Australia, and particularly Adelaide, where I was living at the time. So after losing sight, I was sort of sitting there going, I can't engage how I used to in an industry that I loved, um, and still do love, but an opportunity through. Oddly enough, the Vision Australia Facebook page popped up for the CRG and I went, oh, I sent it, actually sent it to a friend and said thoughts? And that was all I wrote. And she goes, do you want me to apply for you? Um, as just like, you should do this, let's go. So I took it as an opportunity not only to do some good and advocate for blind, low vision people that are just starting out in their journey. Because essentially, I was three months into my vision loss when I applied for that role, but also to be able to engage my peers. That was really important for me. And there's the peer quality peer groups and the quality living groups that are through VA as well. But it was for me, it was a real opportunity to engage at a higher level and see what the process is and learn. I learn really well through that of seeing the behind the scenes. I guess is the easiest way to say it, and the people on the crew are all incredibly passionate people, very motivated to do not only the right thing for themselves blind low vision people, but also Vision Australia. So we tell it like it is and we've got direct access to the board and the Vision Australia management, which is and they listen and that's a beautiful thing. Not many businesses out there are prepared to have a group of people that are clients essentially be quite open and honest about the processes and what they feel is happening, good or bad, within Vision Australia. And there's an awful lot of good, and there's a few things that need improvement. And we happily tell them and they listen. And over time those processes change so that we can have a great impact on all people with blind, low vision, no matter what stage they're at in their journey. So yeah. So the krg's been fantastic. I've been on just over a year now of my first three years, and hopefully I'll roll over to the next. So I'll be on for six years in total. And in terms of, I guess, linking that back to the trek again, we can start to shape with some of the funding that comes through, we can start to look at how we shape Vision Australia's quality living programs to actually benefit people. So the more money that comes in through fundraising, the more opportunities Vision Australia has to actually help more blind low vision people through those programs.
And Sharon, did you have anything to add there in terms of what's really so important to yourself as an owner and somebody involved in Vision Australia in that capacity?
Yeah, yeah.
As a service provider, I go to people's homes, their workplaces, schools, universities or meet people within the community. And I've met many people who've had the experience or the support and assistance from the quality living groups. And I get to see which, you know, I feel very fortunate about. I get to see how much of a difference it does make in people's lives, and it really does make a huge difference, to the point where I will actually encourage people to do the groups, or at least to receive a phone call to hear more about it, because I do really see how much of a difference it makes. It really, really helps to connect people, because often people feel like they're the only one going through this experience, and they may not have met another person that has had significant sight loss before. So they do feel very alone and feel like their world has completely changed. So having the opportunity to chat together and discuss a shared experience, it really is a bonding experience. But also the program provides tips and strategies that people share ideas as well about, you know, things that they've discovered works for them. The program also delivers guest speakers from various services of Vision Australia, including assistive technology specialists, occupational therapists, orthoptists, and Orientation Mobility instructors, to mention a few. So yeah, I really do see how important these programs are. So more than happy to promote that honestly out in the community and try and raise funds for it.
Sharon, I'll stay with you and just get some of those details about how people can find out more about the Trek for vision and also raise vital funds for these services?
Yeah, sure.
So yeah, there are still spots available on the track. And so if you're even remotely considering it or think that might, you know, I'm interested or I'd like to hear more about it, definitely contact Vision Australia. So you can either go to the website and do a search for track for vision, or you can contact Myra from the marketing team, marketing and fundraising team at Vision Australia, who's brilliant at discussing all the intricate details required. And look, I did have the thought of, oh gosh, you know, would I be able to do something like this because I'm not that fit. But you know, I soon realised that no, I can do this. And certainly when you meet other people that you know, they're putting their challenges aside and using their motivation and mental strength to do such a thing. It's very easy then to go, you know what? I can do this too. So you don't have to be super fit like Mr. Dale over here. You could be like me. Not particularly fit, but, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm improving, I'm improving. But, you know, enjoy getting out in nature and enjoy a good, solid walk. And on the web page on Division Australia for Trek for vision, it does let you know all about the trek, including what happens on each day where you meet at the beginning, where you stay, what's covered, the costs involved, and the fundraising amount that is required by each individual. Also, people are able to bring a support person as well if that is required.
And each individual participant as well has got their own fundraising page. So we can use QR codes. So Sharon and I will both be putting up posters and things like that around local businesses to get support and doing some fundraising stuff there. And basically people can click on a QR code and go straight to our pages and donate. And it's also through a search, I believe, through the Vision Australia website, you'll be able to find those pages as well.
Well, I've been speaking today with Dale Pearce and Sharon Taylor, both taking part in next year's Trek for vision. Taking place over five days in New Zealand from April 29th to May 3rd, 2025. Dale, Sharon, thank you so much for your time today. Great to catch up with you and chat all about the trek.
Thanks very much, Sam.
Yeah. Thanks, Sam.
Good to talk to you too.
And that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you. So please get in touch any time on our email at Talking Vision. At Vision australia.org. That's talking vision or one word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's Sam Colley saying bye for now.
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during business hours on 1300 847 406. That's 1300 847 406 or by visiting Vision australia.org. That's Vision australia.org.