Having had a very pleasant, and surprisingly successful journey on the Interislander ferry myself early last year, I was intrigued as to what the folks over at NZ On Wheels had to say about it all. Thankfully, our individual trips seem to have at least one thing in common – the overriding enjoyment factor! It really is a stunning voyage, and a must for anyone travelling New Zealand’s stunning coastline. The picture on the left is taken from NZ On

Following on from discussion surrounding the raising of the fine for parking in a mobility space from $40 to $150, it was suggested by a reader that a different kind of parking abuse goes on every day, a type of abuse which is arguably a bigger problem than mobility parking misuse. It surrounds the use of footpaths as ‘alternative parking spots’, thereby blocking its use by anyone that can’t skip nimbly past the offending vehicle. A truck parked across a

It’s a common pastime of mine to watch those with mobility permits exiting their cars, watching for the slightest signal of mobility impairment, ready to pounce on those failing to show any such signs. However deep down, I know there are impairments which are ‘invisible’, and no doubt result in many unkind stares from naive individuals such as myself. There’s a really interesting article over at Mercurynews.com detailing just these kinds of stories, and was really enlightening for me to

Please excuse my glib title, but it’s late on a Thursday night and writing things like that cheer me up a little bit! Anyway, if you’re wondering what induced me to profess such a thing, allow me to explain. Currently, the Newmarket train station is undergoing a major redevelopment (not before time, too), and is completely out of action. In its place are two temporary stations, one for the west route via Newmarket, and one for the South route. But

Hooray! It’s been reported by Radio New Zealand that the fine for parking in a space reserved for mobility card holders is set to increase by more than 3 times the current amount. Presently, if you park in a mobility space, and the parking warden gives enough of a shit to ticket you (which, it seems, is fairly rarely), you’re presented with a meagre $40 fine. Thankfully, this will be bumped up to a heftier $150 later this year, and

Considering the number of requests I’ve had recently from people thinking of visiting New Zealand and who are looking for accessible bushwalks, tours, etc., I thought I’d have a look around and find a bunch of providers who specialise in just that! Of course, anyone can Google “wheelchair accessible NZ”, but in case you’d rather check out my hand-picked list, read on! (PS – isn’t that a brilliant quintessentially NZ photo? I borrowed it from here). Galaxy Motors: Diverse travel

The Cerebral Palsy Society currently have a great story up on their site written by one of their members, Lynn Slade, on her experience of a P&O cruise from a wheelchair user’s perspective. I didn’t even know you could take wheelchairs on cruises, much less bulky power ones, but from what Lynn is reporting it sounds like a wonderful experience! She says: P&O have a few wheelchair accessible cabins but it does pay to book early. Ours was excellent. It

Hey everyone, I’ve been on holiday in the windy city this week, down in our wonderful capital, which is the reason for the lack of updates these past few days! But while I’ve been away I’ve been keeping an eye on things around town so expect a review or two in the coming days ALSO I’ve received word that a wheelchair accessible van is for sale, for those that are in the market for one of these (please note: I

In what’s being hailed as a “landmark victory” for disabled Canadians, domestic Canadian airlines will no longer be able to charge an extra fare for a disabled person’s caregiver. That means it effectively puts an end to the one-person-one-fare policy, and enables disabled people to travel by plane without having to pay extra for a support person to go with them, if they need one. It’s important to make this distinction – “if they need one” – as this rule

It seems that a number of airlines in our friendly neighbouring country of Australia have recently applied to their Human Rights Commission for an exemption to the international law requiring access to transport for disabled people. The airlines are mainly the very in-vogue “budget” airlines, who are (understandably) looking to cut costs across the board. The only problem is, part of their “cost-cutting” plans involve removing the ability for those in power chairs, for example, to travel. Further examples include