Wheel the spiel

Travelling with a disability and exploring Australia on wheels

By Lisa Cox

Previously I’d travelled extensively around Australia and overseas as an athlete and a tourist, but these days just getting to the next suburb is a challenge in itself. In 2005, illness put me in a wheelchair and left me physically disabled, however despite all I’ve lost, the travel bug has never left me.

For the past few years I’ve been travelling around Australia speaking at schools and events on a variety of topics, and during this time I’ve been making mental notes about what it’s like to travel with a physical disability.

Lisa Cox
Author, advocate and commentator based in Brisbane.

I’m by no means writing on behalf of the disabled community, as each individual has different needs and preferences. So, I am basing this on my own observations and experiences. I’m in a wheelchair but can stand to transfer if need be. I’m also 25% blind, so I don’t drive myself between destinations as other physically disabled persons may do.

Additionally, it may not be you who has the physical disability and you travel with someone who has special needs. Last year my partner and I did a road trip from Brisbane to Sydney where we stayed for a week, and last month my friends and family went on a winery tour of Stanthorpe. On both occasions I didn’t book the accommodation and had to give others a crash course in travelling with a physical disability. Might I add that they did a marvellous job!

Wheelchair access and disabled facilities

There are a few things to be aware of if you or someone you’re travelling with has a physical disability. Unfortunately, we learnt the hard way during my first speaking tour of NSW that there is a big difference between ‘wheelchair access’ and ‘disabled facilities’. Just because a place has wheelchair access, that doesn’t always mean that it has disabled facilities. Sure you can get a wheelchair though the front door of the accommodation, but once inside you had better not want to use the toilet or shower.

I recommend that, if possible or need be, you consider carrying a fold-up shower chair. Additionally, you can buy inexpensive, detachable hand rails to stick beside the toilet or in the shower for the duration of your stay, and then simply take them with you when you leave.

I know someone in an electronic wheelchair who recently travelled with his wife and child across Australia. The money they paid for a plastic ramp was well spent and made access much easier. Having been an able-bodied person for the greater part of my life, I’d never considered how a concrete slab in the wrong place could make an entire area inaccessible.

Size it up – cost versus comfort

If you stick to the big cities, disabled facilities are generally good. My travels have taken me to some rural areas where the only motel in town doesn’t accommodate those with special needs. As beautiful as the architecture is in some of the older parts of Australia, they weren’t building for wheelchairs in the year 1901. However, these days new buildings must, by law, allow for wheelchair access and disabled facilities.

This is where you have to weigh up cost versus comfort. The Four Seasons Hotel in the heart of Sydney has exceptional access and facilities. It’s modern and luxurious, however it’s not cheap and certainly isn’t the sort of place we could afford to stay on a two-week speaking tour.

Although there are exceptions, you generally have to pay a little more for good facilities. On a few occasions we’ve booked into budget accommodation to find that the ‘shower chair’ was an unstable plastic patio chair. Affordable? Yes. Safe? No.

Disability travel information

http://www.e-bility.com/ and http://www.disability-world.com/ are two websites I’d recommend to further research disability travel. There’s more detailed information, tips and things to do or not to do when travelling with a disability. The RACQ also publishes a handy publication listing accommodation with wheelchair access.

Finally, do your research. This can be as simple as making a phone call to ask about specific requirements rather than just going by what their website says. The definition of ‘wheelchair friendly’ is always different. It may take a little longer but will be worth it in the long run.

Next year I’ll be exploring more of Australia as I visit schools across the country, so if you have any suggestions for where to stay, please let me know. But before I go across Australia, I just need to get across town by 6pm. I’m not sure which will be harder. Happy travels!

For more details about Lisa’s story: http://www.disability.qld.gov.au/stories/lisa-cox/

Lisa Cox is an author, advocate and commentator based in Brisbane. For more information about her work visit: http://www.lisacoxpresents.com/