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!

In a nutshell, the campaign is saying, “If you drink and drive you might end up in a wheelchair, and that would be awful”. Now, whilst I don’t disagree that the experience of suffering a spinal cord injury would be traumatic to say the least, I hate the constant perpetuation of the message that life in a wheelchair is akin to hell on earth. And that seems to be exactly what this campaign is insinuating.

What do you think?

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 in Auckland being fully accessible – or at least as far as entry goes. Many Melbourne shops and eateries had at least one step leading inside. Not impressed.
• Why do places in Melbourne use handrails without the ‘grippy’ material? No exaggeration, I used many ‘accessible’ bathrooms over there – from the Airport to the Museum to my hotel room, and every single rail I used was slippery and unsafe, lacking the grooves which make local handrails so easy to use!

Feel free to comment below – I’ll be back with more later

We walked in and thought… no problem! I think there was a slight incline but nothing your average wheelchair can’t handle. Impressed by the roominess, too, for what seems to be a rather small establishment.

We ordered… Pikelets with raspberry jam and mascarpone, which is supposed to be pronounced fancily, I think, and my partner in crime ordered “Good stuff in a bun”, which was a dazzling array of pesto, mushrooms, and other vegetarian delights. Both were a roaring success, and the coffee was great too. See the picture on the right.

The ‘accessible’ bathroom… Got a solid ‘functional’ tick in my book, nothing too fancy, but easily manageable. The door was one of those pull-toward-you-on-a-hinge ones, which I find particularly difficult, and would take a sliding door any day. But other than that, because it’s a relatively new place it was in great condition and built to proper specification.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Easily accessible entrance, the place is small but not cramped
• Outdoor seating if you want
• Really friendly staff, I immediately felt like I was a ‘regular’
• Accessible counter – at a nice height for my wheelchair
• Good accessible bathroom, although the door’s a bit tricky and the hand-dryer is quite high on the wall
• Overall accessibility rating: 4 / 5

Website: shakyisles.co.nz
Phone: (09) 815 – 3591

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 the front, couches and tables indoors and further seating in the garden out the back which includes a variety of tables topped with mosasics, even the toilet is decorated in them!

You can get directions to Hot Mama’s Cafe here, or click here for more info!

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 use the toilet, went to go through from the Womens and found my chair got stuck in the door! I then had to ask the manager (oooh the humiliation) to help me through the side door. So off we went out the front of the building, and in front of other people entered the front bar which was not being used.

When in the toilet I discovered the turning circle was not big enough for my chair to manoeuvre very well, anyway after that my partner and I plus the manager returned to the bar.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Friendly people
• Accessibility within the bar near perfect
• Plenty of room to move around
• Access to toilet unacceptable
• Not much turning space for chairs
• Overall accessibility rating: 2/5

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So what I want to know is what experiences have you had with negotiating sandwich-boards as a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or cane user? Are they a necessary evil or should they be done away with completely? Sound off in the comments below!

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 else was open in Takapuna on a Thursday night, but it was actually surprisingly busy! We were greeted by a man who wanted to take our orders (what?!), I thought he was rushing us because they were closing soon but no, that’s just how they do things here, apparently. I asked where I should pay, and in response I was advised he’d “give you the check when you’re finished”, which is something I’m not used to when grabbing coffee and cake! He then asked where we’d like to sit, suggesting table 24. I didn’t really feel like arguing, so off we trooped to table 24 (which was, admittedly, a nice table!)

It gets better. He then produces this wine bottle of water, pours us each a glass of water, and begins setting the table with napkins and cutlery! Can I just remind you at this point that we had ordered a flat white, a piece of cake and an iced chocolate. That’s it. I was a touch overwhelmed. Starbucks take a hint! It’s probably worth noting that the coffee and cake were very good, beats both Starbucks and Esquires hands down, for those of you who are keeping score.

Alright down to the nitty-gritty, how is it in terms of accessibility? Well, I was impressed. Level entry, plenty of room inside the cafe, and three bathrooms, so you don’t have to put up with the drunk able-bodied men peeing all over the floor, they have their own bathroom to do that in! The door to the accessible bathroom is a pull-door with a pull-down handle, but no auto-close mechanism so it wasn’t heavy to pull at all. There’s a massive rail on the other side with which to pull the door closed behind you. Awesome stuff. The bathroom is really big, one of the most spacious I’ve encountered. Basin is at a good height, although I couldn’t see any part of myself in the mirror, but oh well, I probably looked pretty shabby anyway, haha Click on the image off to the left to check it out in full size.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Easily wheelchair accessible throughout
• Nice and relaxing space, take your pick of couches or chairs
• Enthusiastic service! Perhaps a bit over the top?!
• Open late
• Great wheelchair friendly bathroom, no stupid fiddly toilet-roll dispensers yay!
• Overall accessibility rating: 5 / 5

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, is the place to be.

First the good news. If you can negotiate a troublesome small step at the entrance door way a wide range of performing arts awaits. In 1905 the Pumphouse began its life as a water pumping station for Auckland’s North Shore. It was saved from demolition by the casting vote of 1960’s Mayor Fred Thomas and re-opened as a theatre in 1977. Now it’s a cosy theatre that seats 192 people with wheelchair access through a door way on the far side of the building.

Further good news is that the cafe T’ziki is also accessible. T’ziki is adjacent to the Pumphouse and is situated on the edge of beautiful Lake Pupuke. Patrons can wine and dine at reasonable cost too. The soup price tag ranges from $10 to $14. The paninis are about the same and the main meals range from $13 to $18. Customers can sip a reasonably good variety of palatable wine while watching a fascinating assortment of birdlife waddle by.

The not so good news is that the art gallery at the Pumphouse is impossible to reach and there is a lack of accessible toilets. In theory there is a perfectly good disabled toilet at the T’ziki. Well there would be if all obstacles were removed. The real enigma is the Amphitheatre which is attached to the back of the cafe. Generally speaking the audience enters from the top but there is a short sharp ramp that leads to the stage. Unfortunately, if seated here, the wheelchair user is in danger of coming to grief as a bit player in a Shakespearean production, as there is nowhere to hide Macbeth’s sword or the witch’s cauldron.

In summary despite obvious physical barriers, some of which could easily be fixed quite frankly, Killarney Park is a fun place to go for a picnic and/or to attend a play at the Pumphouse.

Killarney Park is off Manurere Avenue in Takapuna.