I was eating brunch at a cafe this morning, and about 10 minutes after I’d settled in, another wheelchair user came through the door. “Huh!”, I thought, noting the relative rarity of this situation. Still, cool.

As we left, the other wheelchair user left the cafe right behind me. As she wheeled away, my Uncle remarked, “It’s wheelchair central out here!”. Now, make what you will of that comment, but it just hit me how strange it was that two wheelchairs in one location was notable, even remarkable. If “wheelchair central” is defined by two wheelchairs, I wonder what you’d call 3 or more? A stampede?!

I guess my point is, it would be nice if 2011 was a year where seeing more than one wheelchair in one place became a regular occurrence, or at least not as noteworthy.

Did you know – at Rhythm & Vines 2010, I was the only wheelchair user there? The only one. Out of 25,000 people. Come on team – let’s get out there and prove we exist!

Apologies for the somewhat convoluted heading. However as it turns out, the below image depicting a (presumably) able-bodied guy sitting in a chair with wheels attached to the sides, is far from a quirky gimmick to attract customers. In fact, it’s part of an advertising campaign by Australian agency JAM to convince punters that drinking and driving is a bad idea. This ambient portion is backed up by a print campaign, which you can read here or by clicking on

A fully inclusive cafe

Hey everyone, So the biggest two months of my life just finished with a whirlwind trip to Melbourne, where many a startling discovery was made! Here are some questions for you to ponder: Why is it that there are so many people in wheelchairs selling things on the streets of Melbourne? Are disabled people being relegated to second-class citizens? The number of disabled beggars truly scared me. Why are so many of the shops inaccessible? I’m used to most cafes

I’ve been meaning to check out this new Kingsland cafe for quite some time, and finally got around to it today. Unfortunately, like most places on New North Road, parking is a little hit and miss, so it might pay to prepare for a bit of a walk from a nearby parking space. Anyway, turns out that Shaky Isles is a delightful little place to stop for lunch, and pretty accessible too! We walked in and thought… no problem! I

Thanks to Jenni for this review! Hot Mama’s has a very relaxed and easygoing atmosphere about it, with friendly staff and a good menu choice catering for different types of people, with good vegetarian choices also. This includes hot foods e.g. wedges, chips, nachos & pizza, cabinet food such as sandwiches and cakes, and they have a licenced bar to the side. It is easily accessible for everyone, having a wide door and ramp access, there is outdoor seating out

Big ups to Caz for this great review! This bar is okay accessibility-wise except for a few faults. I went to “The Outback” last night with some friends and getting in was fine, ramps and all, there’s only a few problems, such as if you want to order a drink or food and you’re in a chair, make sure someone is with you to get the people behind the counter’s attention as the counter is quite high. I went to

I was contacted by a reporter this morning who was wondering if I’d had any feedback on how wheelchair users feel about sandwich-boards cluttering up footpaths, particularly in busy hospitality-filled areas like Ponsonby. In my personal experience, I’ve had to frequently roll down a nearby curb-cut and scoot along the road for 50 metres or so, purely because there was no room on the footpath for my wheelchair after the sandwich-boards, tables and chairs had monopolised most of it! If

Well gosh, what an odd place the Coffee Club is. I think it’s trying to put style back into the increasingly-commercialised world of coffee chains, but it’s something which will take a bit of getting used to. What am I talking about, you ask? Read on, and find out… Well as you can see by the picture on the left (click on it to see a bigger version) we went to the Coffee Club at night, seeing as nothing much

This review was originally published in the Cerebral Palsy Society‘s Review publication, and Ross Flood (author) has kindly given me permission to post it up here. Cheers Floody! The Pumphouse Theatre, which is situated in Killarney Park, Takapuna, would definitely not win any wheelchair accessibility awards, but despite its obvious faults it does have a certain old fashion charm. Put it this way, if you are a wheelchair user and have an adventurous streak the Pumphouse theatre and its surrounds,