By Alanah May Eriksen
Paul Kibblewhite and guide dog Taupo have finally "knocked Tongariro off".
The visually impaired Rotorua man and his dog have successfully completed the famed Tongariro Crossing after their first attempt was cut short when Taupo fell ill after eating poison.
Their latest feat coincides with the Red Puppy Appeal this weekend, raising money for the training of guide dogs around New Zealand.
There is a shortage of guide dogs in the country and the New Zealand Foundation of the Blind hopes to raise $1 million from the appeal.
Taupo, a 7-year-old white labrador, was poisoned in 2003 while on a three-day tramp in the Tongariro National Park with Mr Kibblewhite, 65, and a tramping party.
The incident sparked a dramatic rescue mission to help save the dog's life, requiring her rescuers to tramp into the park through the night and eventually bring her out by helicopter.
But Taupo is showing no after-effects of the poison and Mr Kibblewhite has been determined ever since for them to finish the tramp, about 19km-long. So in January the pair achieved it within three days, this time carrying medication in case the same thing happened again.
"We did it, we knocked it off. I dress Taupo up in her red cape and she's a super girl, a super dog. She's a great pet, a great friend," he said.
Mr Kibblewhite suffers from myopia, where the retinas in his eyes have disintegrated over time. He first showed symptoms of the illness in the late 1960s but he didn't need a guide dog until the late 1990s. "Taupo keeps me out of trouble. I don't have to worry about falling into gutters or banging into lamp posts," he said.
Taupo walks Mr Kibblewhite from their Lynmore home to Scion, where he works as a fibre scientist, and back three days a week. She even has her own photo next to other Scion staff photos in the foyer. She goes to my meetings, she goes to my lectures, she sits under my desk in my office," Mr Kibblewhite said.
He said without Taupo he couldn't do a lot of things. The pair can often be seen walking around the Redwoods and other tracks around New Zealand.
"I have two lifelines - Taupo, she gets me to work, she gets me home - and my wife Leonie, she helps me in areas Taupo isn't familiar with."
* Mr Kibblewhite and Taupo will be outside the Warehouse tomorrow collecting for the Red Puppy Appeal.
Paul and Taupo knock Tongariro off
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