As you may be aware, two of the last major acts to visit New Zealand, Westlife and Eric Clapton, have both set exorbitant pricing for the wheelchair section Auckland’s Vector Arena. Both times I was able to lobby Vector Arena on my readers’ behalf, who then in turn spoke to the promoters, and convinced them to lower the wheelchair pricing to a more reasonable level, in line with what other consumers pay. With international rock act Coldplay announcing a one-off

The only accessible toilet hidden away in the women’s bathroom? Lippy staff? The Matterhorn had it all! Thanks to Nic Steenhout for this excellent review. Recently, my partner and I went for dinner at the Matterhorn restaurant in Wellington. As we are not located in Wellington, this was a special trip for us. The evening was enjoyable, despite several hiccups. The food was good, and its presentation excellent. The wines were very good. The accessibility was, sadly, far less than

Thanks to Philip Patston for this review! New lifts popping up in corporate buildings (like the PriceWaterhouseCoopers building in downtown Auckland, which we visited today) have no floor or call buttons – you now enter the floor you wish to go to in a separate console and it tells you which lift to take (the cars are lettered). If you press the button with the Universal Access (wheelchair) Symbol, it embarrasses you by shouting the lift letter (hopeless if you

I called up The Edge this morning to purchase tickets to Chris Rock’s show in August at Auckland’s heritage Civic building, which me and my two mates are really looking forward to! So imagine my disgust when I was told that there is only provision for the disabled person and “one carer”, and that if I wanted to go with my two friends, one would have to sit in a different area of the theatre. When I enquired as to

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

Could you say no to $125/night for a wheelchair-accessible room in the middle of Wellington, including breakfast? Well, I couldn’t. Was it a good decision? I’m undecided. Read on to find out if the Central City Hotel, Wellington, would suit you… First off, can I please advise all Wellington-visiting wheelchair users to avoid taking a taxi van at all costs! Not only will TM Mobility Card not work (if you’re from Auckland, in other words you’ll have to pay the

Thanks to Honor for submitting this piece, have any of you had a similar experience? Let us know in the comments below! – Red I visited Hunter’s Plaza the other day with two friends who rely on wheelchairs to get around, and because I (to put it bluntly) don’t, they recommended I borrow one from the Mall, otherwise I would spend the entire visit unable to keep up with them – these are two very fast-moving ladies. Now, I have

In the first of what I hope will be many contributions to this site, Ron takes a look at the accessibility around his current stomping ground, Grey Lynn. The Grey Lynn Library: Situated on Great North Rd, the Library has ample parking with one mobility car park and a ramp accessing the library. Very tight manoeuvering inside the library, but staff are very friendly and helpful. Sad to relate the library has no public toilets whatsoever. By and large, the

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