A different perspective

My lovely husband and I have just come back from a couple of days away in Akaroa. It is the first time we have tried to go away since my temporary change in mobility. We took with us a hired wheelchair and my walker I have been using for the past few months. While we were looking forward to a few days away, there was a bit of trepidation on my part as to how we would manage.

Many lessons were learned in our few days away. One is that I am not a very good passenger in a wheelchair. It didn’t help that a lot of the pathways were on a slope, down which my chariot decided it would like to go on rather a regular basis. It was not a huge slope but enough to make me squeal at my poor long-suffering husband. We were both a bit of a wreck after a short foray into him piloting my wheelchair as I shrieked my way through the town. He tentatively – and somewhat hopefully – said, ‘Do you think you might be better with the walker?’ to which I replied – to his very evident relief – ‘Yes, I think so!’

Even when using the walker, I sometimes got him to hold the front of the walker, to stop me and the walker sliding – not so graciously – in the direction of the roadway. So, we took the walker out for dinner and this in itself caused some challenges. Not only were most buildings I wanted to go into have some sort of steps to access them, but once in there, the proprietors of the space, be it cafe, restaurant, or other type of building – mostly of the table and chairs inhabited type – had the said tables and chairs arranged with a view to packing in as many paying customers as possible. This did not bode well for two people wanting a meal, snack or coffee, with an apparatus that needed to take up floor space getting to said table, but also once I was safely deposited in one of the supplied seating options, the walker also needed some floor space. So, some spaces proved impossible to access, just peeking through the door, we could see no space for anything other than a slimmer person than I and certainly not a rather robust piece of kit, that being my walker.

Then there was the choice of floor covering. In external terms predominantly, there were many challenges. Akaroa is a place that seems to love shingle paths and paved areas. Not exclusively, but enough to have to negotiate quite a few on our foray into the French inspired village that is Akaroa. Paving is a wonderful way of putting together a pleasant outdoor flooring option, but only if they are even and safe. Often there were raised pavers, with just enough edge protruding above the ground to make traversing them an always alert voyage seeking out safe passage through them to the destination on the other side. Even getting in and out of doorways proved a challenge at times, with a noticeable lip, barring the way, had I not had the assistance of my ever-vigilant husband.

All in all, we managed very well, albeit with a few not unexpected challenges with access. There was so much more to think about than whether we liked the menu and ambiance of a restaurant or cafe. Simply getting through the doors could be a challenge and then navigating through a sea of closely packed chairs added to the drama. We enjoyed our time away though, which at least freed my husband from doing kitchen duties for a few days and not having to do anything in the way of other household chores was also a bonus.

So, now we have a few days at home and then we are off to Kaikoura for a few days. This has always been our favourite spot, so it will be interesting how Kaikoura fares in comparison to Akaroa for it’s accessibility both indoors and out. I will report in when I have the Kaikoura experience to compare.

Whatever the challenges, I’m sure we will enjoy some time away together in one of our favourite places. If nothing else – apart from getting hubby away from domestic chores – we will build up our knowledge of accessible options in both places for the future, when accessibility is needed on a more permanent basis.