Walk in my Wheels

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Filtering by Tag: Tasmania

Tasmania Travels - getting lucky in Hobart

February 23, 2016  /  Paul McKenzie

Our final days in Hobart consisted of enjoying the harbour views, solid time with the bennies and Peg (an upright mate I used to play footy with in Waaia in Victoria) and his missus Chrissie before heading to Launceston to see some old mates from rehab.

Peg, me, and Boof in front of the Grand Chancellor Hobart

Peg, me, and Boof in front of the Grand Chancellor Hobart

We stayed at the Grand Chancellor in Hobart for three nights, lapping up the 5 star luxury, which ended up being paid for in the winnings off the roulette wheel at the Casino - my numbers 33 and 35 came through for me again. For the full report on the hotel room take a look at the review blog post... did I mention it had an AAAAAAAMMMAAYYZZZIIINNNGG view over the harbour... you'd pay 4 figures a night in Sydney for a view like that!

Whilst there we visited the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery which was right across the road - check out the pics below of the pretty groovy sculptural ramp come courtyard seating. We didn't have enough time to have a good look around but what we saw was really interesting.

We also called into the Maritime Museum of Tasmania where we were greeted by ol' mate x 3 - they finished off our look around with some entertaining stories (even if they did have a tendency of repeating themselves!). Fantastic access here and a lift is going in to open up the second level of the building.

On our drive up from Hobart we stopped into say goodbye to Boof and he recommended we take the turnoff to Ross for a stopover... and we were glad he did.... Ross is one lovely old town and I even bumped into my mate Bruce from the cigarette shop in Echuca there! It boasts the third oldest bridge still in use in Australia - a sandstone number constructed by the convicts in 1936.  There's many lovely old buildings down tree-lined streets- including the old barracks for the soldiers - throw in a great bakery, and a fantastic antique shop or two and this is one town I was happy to have discovered. No antique finds for me, but I enjoyed the process of looking! 

Then on up the highway to Launie...

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categories / Travel with SCI, Friends with SCI
tags / Hobart, travel, wheelchair access, Tasmania, disability, SCIlife, SCI, spinal cord injury

Tasmania Travels - teddy bears & all things nice

February 20, 2016  /  Paul McKenzie

Week two of our Tassie adventure was jam-packed. We had a day on the beautiful Bruny Island, played 10 pin bowling with some other bennys, explored more of Hobart and the south-east coast, snuggled up in Snug for a week, met up with old friends holidaying here, saw the latest Star Wars movie, met a bloke battling cancer striving to finish his Huon pine houseboat … yep... some memories we'll take with us to our deathbeds for sure.

It seems we were a little lax at taking photos at Bruny Island, but here's a few of the ferry that we were able to drive the car onto (hot tip: be sure to go to the front of the line to the wheelchair parking spot when you enter the terminal). Oh, and there's a selfie of us at the cheese factory, and one Jess took of a pretty beach where we let Horsey have a swim.

The highlight would have to be the massive lunch at Hotel Bruny - the oysters were MAGNIFICENT! And a close follow-up was the bargains we got from ol' mate at The Green Shed, the islands only second-hand junk shop. Not much more to say... we drove around a bit, stopped at the cheese place, and then the chocolate place, grabbed a coffee and an icecream at the coffee cart place, and then it was time to head back! Lucky for us we got a couple of hours of beautiful weather before it clouded in and started to rain. 

Our only hiccup re. wheelchair access during this time was a trip to the Sandfly Market which was held in the town hall - but the wheelchair accessible door was blocked by a bookcase (we were told to make a complaint to the local council) - luckily with some 4WDing I got to a side door so I did manage to get in. Jess found my resulting purchases (below) amusing.

The below images are from our drive around the D'Entrecasteaux Channel - part of the Huon Trail. The drive south from Snug through to Cygnet and back to Snug via an inland road, was on a gorgeous sunny day, and the landscape was a mix of pretty rural scenes, quaint little towns, and sparkling beaches.

We stopped at Peppermint Bay in Woodbridge, a beautiful spot for cuppa with some interesting architecture and garden sculptures.... Eggs & Bacon Bay was a pretty spot but we were hugely disappointed there was nowhere selling a bacon and egg sanga... Cygnet dished up some healthy grub and an inspiring chat with Rob whose quest is to finish his remarkable floating artwork/home.

Still to come.. blog posts on the remainder of ourTasmanian trip including Hobart, Launceston, our friends Boof, Trent, Jamie, and the 20 year post rehab reunion!

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categories / Travel with SCI
tags / Tasmania, Bruny Island, travel, road trip, wheelchair, SCIlife

Tasmania Travels - Triabunna Cabin Review

January 28, 2016  /  Paul McKenzie

For our first week we stayed at the Triabunna Cabin & Caravan Park on the east coast of Tasmania, about an hours drive from Hobart. It's a lovely quiet quirky little fishing town with everything within walking (or wheeling) distance.

We enjoyed our stay at this small but busy cabin & caravan park. We had the Superior Cabin which is a new one bedroom, wheelchair accessible (level entry) cabin with a roomy lounge / dining area, and full kitchen. It suited our needs well.

The owners were friendly, they introduced themselves upon our arrival and were eager to hear our feedback and to improve things where they could.

Only things that let it down was the shower bench wasn't installed properly and thus didn't fold up as it should - I was concerned I would injure my feet on it while showering - hopefully this will be fixed. Also the bed was a little too high (we usually find them not high enough!) but the feet could've been removed if we'd wanted it lowered, other than that it was a comfortable bed with lots of room (we had it set up as a king bed, but it can be separated into two king singles).

Other notes:

  • The laundry, main toilet block (for campers), & reception office were not wheelchair accessible. 
  • My companion dog was allowed to stay, but not in the cabin. 
  • The free wi-fi service was very good - much better than the usual camping ground networks.

One of the greatest attractions in Triabunna is the ferry service to Maria Island (pronounced Mariah -  like the singer), apparently a beautiful pristine island with great walking tracks - I'll never know as this proved to be yet another ferry service that has a strange definition of wheelchair accessible. This ferry is definitely NOT wheelchair accessible - hopefully thanks to the chat I had with the booking lady, they won't be telling people from now on that it is - there's no way I could make the trip sadly.

Highlights of the town for me was watching the activity on the wharf - there were tonnes and tonnes of squid being bought in while we were there, an archaeological dig that was underway at the old Barracks next to the Spring Bay Hotel, and the friendly locals including John who kept offering us plums off his trees.

Next stop... Snug Bay Cabin & Caravan Park...

 

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categories / Accommodation, Friends with SCI, Life with SCI
tags / accommodation, Tasmania, wheelchair access, disability, peer support, SCI, spinal cord injury