In part two of today’s look-at-this-neat-disability-focussed-website series, NZ On Wheels have posted a great writeup about Wellington’s beautiful botanical gardens and its level of accessibility for wheelchair users. Check out the excerpt below: The lower section is nice and flat, with good, sealed tracks and the cafe – get to this part of the botanical gardens from the Tinakori Rd entrance. The rest of the gardens gets pretty steep, and we mean steeeeeep. You will definitely need a hand with

The battle of the coffee chains has begun. Shortly after CloseUp’s story on this site on TV One last night, I received an email from an Esquires staff member, promising a vastly superior experience to the one I had at Starbucks, which is located in the same building. So I had to go check it out, and I’m pleased to report: he was right! For a start, it’s a heck of a lot easier to access Esquires, as there are

Eden Park is the biggest and one of the oldest stadiums in New Zealand. It was used as a sports facility way back in 1900, even though it wasn’t much more than a swamp. These days, it seats more than 48,000 people, and in 1999, a brand new stand was built on the northern side of the stadium. With this flash new stand came some flash new seating for those in wheelchairs, so the question needs to be asked: how

I admit it: I’m a bit of a movie junkie. I’m spending far too many lots of $15 these days on films which are far from worth it, but I keep going! I don’t know whether that says more about my financial discipline or the quality of modern films but hey, I digress. This review focusses on one of the more popular cinema complexes in Auckland, the SkyCity ‘Metro’ complex on Queen Street. First off, don’t be fooled by the

Last night was my first experience with the Auckland City Council’s multi-million dollar indoor entertainment venue, the Vector Arena, and I’m delighted to report that it was an incredibly positive experience! I was there to see teenagedom idols Linkin Park, who were being supported by Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell. To be honest, Cornell is a bit before my time, and while the crowd seemed to be enjoying his set, you could tell there was a touch of politeness

After gushing about how fantastic the disabled toilet at Starbucks in Ponsonby is, I feel it’s time for a degree of clarification. Because after careful analysis of my most oft-frequented Starbucks, next to Aotea Square on Queen Street, I’ve decided that as wheelchair-friendly as the Ponsonby Road store is, the Queen Street one certainly brings things down a notch. Previously a Planet Hollywood outlet, and this is the reason for its bizarrely futuristic architecture, I like this Starbucks because a)

It’s the kind of place you drive past thinking “Gosh that looks cosy, I must try it out sometime”, a sort of incessantly busy hubbub of italiano tucked away on Symonds St. And if you’re looking for busy, Gina’s doesn’t disappoint, teeming with people even on the Monday night my family and I went. We rang earlier in the day to book, and also let them know about my wheelchair, they reassured us that it’d be “no problem”. No problem

You’d think it was a fairly easy concept to grasp, that wheelchair users might want to, oh I dunno, fit into the disabled bathroom provided for them, so it kinda defeats the purpose when places decide their new accessible bathroom would look great as a storage room. Perhaps it is the size, that puts them off? The sudden realisation that gosh, this is so much larger than our regular toilet, perhaps we can do something with all the extra space..

The folks in Ponsonby Road’s Starbucks know me quite well these days. Not because I’m buying oodles of their sugar-laden cocktails, but because I’m a regular consumer of their fantastic disabled bathroom. Why would I go to Starbucks just to use their bathroom, you ask? Well, it’s because I love Cezanne, which is directly across the road. Only problem is, the place itself is about as accessible as soft sandy beaches. Bless them, they are still hanging on to the

It’s true, I said it: I’m in love with a cafe. Anywhere that succeeds in being funky and arty, without the generally associated pretentiousness, as well as serving great coffee and eggs benedict, whilst being wheelchair-friendly, earns the big tick in my book. ‘Roasted’, as it is affectionately known, is situated in the heart of the Kingsland shops; 487 New North Road, to be exact. It’s a cute little orange place with tables and chairs outside, directly opposite the hulking