We all know that good budget accommodation is hard to find. And I’m sure many of you know that finding good accessible budget accommodation is even harder. So it’s with great pleasure that I present my overdue review of Wellington’s YHA. Location: Located directly opposite a local supermarket, it is incredibly central, situated just a few minutes walk from many of Wellington’s fantastic attractions. Te Papa, the waterfront, and the many cafes and op-shops are all within easy walking /

I’m sure many of you have seen the latest ad from Land Transport New Zealand, promoting cars with side airbags as helping to prevent brain injury during a crash. What you might not have realised, however, is that the woman in the advertisement is actually an Australian actress. Admittedly, she is very convincing, but is it right that we have able-bodied people pretending to be disabled? Why couldn’t they use a Kiwi who had actually experienced brain injury? Check out

Well mark this down in the ‘never-thought-it’d-happen’ file, but a bloke over in the UK has built the world’s first motorbike designed specifically for wheelchair users, and boy is it impressive. The bike is actually being shipped over here and donated to the CatWalk Trust, to be auctioned off to raise funds for spinal cord injury research. Campbell Live had a piece on the bike tonight, and you can catch the video here. Drooling compulsory. PS. I wonder if these

Hahaha… Steep much? And just in case you weren’t sure what/who it was intended for, they’ve made it unmistakably clear

I shake my head in bewilderment… Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son’s kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class. After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn’t like about Barton’s 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher said they were going to take a vote, Barton said. By a 14 to 2 margin, the class voted him out of the class. Barton said her son is in the process

Let’s face it. There isn’t much on offer in NZ for disabled thrill-seekers. More often than not we’re lumped in the ‘too hard’ basket and left on the sideline as a spectator by many tourism operators. So imagine my excitement when I got a call from the folks over at Auckland’s brand new SkyWalk, asking me if I’d like to take their new ‘access’ chair for a test drive (or swing, as it turns out). Without thinking about what I

Not that I like to admit it, but the Aussies have well and truly one-upped us on this one! Tourism NSW have set up sydneyforall.com, a site quite similar to this one really, featuring ‘accessible reviews’ on some of Sydney’s biggest tourist attractions. The site acts as an access portal, and contains information on the accessibility of places like the Opera House and Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. It also has a section on accessible transport, which contains downloadable ‘access maps’, information

So I’m sure you’ve all heard of how PM Helen Clark’s security entourage blocked all the mobility parking spaces outside Christchurch’s Town Hall last week. What that did, interestingly, is bring this debate over the misuse of mobility parking spots into the mainstream, and the NZ Herald has a really fascinating debate going on over here on this exact subject. Here are a selection of my favourite comments: Tow the offending vehicle to the farthest corner of the car park