Never a Dull Moment When We Fly by Derek Garner

I have just returned from my fifth holiday in New Zealand visiting my son and his family.

I have always had problems with the transfer to and from my wheelchair to and from the aircraft seat and have suffered as a result and have always spoken to the companies at length to explain my needs with very limited success. This time I picked Qantas as a result of a website promoting wheelchair friendly travel. I spoke to Qantas staff and explained my situation and also my interest in their new Eagle hoist. At every stop on my journey I was met by staff who had obviously been told about my flight and were expecting me. I was handled with courtesy and respect and was looked after at all times.

Several staff members pointed out to me, unprompted, that they no longer used the hoist as two strong men were more efficient, which proved to be the case. Dubai was my worry after a bad experience there some years ago but they were excellent with one man allocated to my care during the time I was there. At Heathrow a special transporter machine was brought to the plane and I was moved from the plane via this machine from Term 3 to Term 5 by Gary and Omar. Brilliant. In the flight from Sydney to Heathrow on an Airbus 380 my wife and I finished up with two seats on the middle block of four the other two were unoccupied by accident or design, so my wife could lay down and have a sleep.

It was obvious to me that Qantas had told their staff at all points where I was due to be, of my disability. This is really all I have ever asked airline companies to do but Qantas actually have done it and I will use them again and would certainly recommend them.

The BA shuttle from Manchester was 90 minutes late leaving so we missed our Qantas connexion at Heathrow. Fortunately we were eventually offered a Virgin Atlantic flight to Auckland via Shanghai.
When we got to the plane my wife was told that they had found two seats together and we were put into business class. Ten hours in luxury, my how the other half live. We had a very pleasant trip I can assure you.

I have been to New Plymouth in New Zealand five times and the last leg from Auckland is in a twin prop small plane accessed from the runway.  They transfer me from my chair onto the aisle chair on the runway then push me into a cage attached to a fork lift truck. They then raise the cage to the entrance of the plane and push me in. Sounds odd but it does work very well. Reverse the procedure at New Plymouth. Apart from losing both our suitcases, the flight there and back were as good as it gets if you are in a wheelchair. I can’t praise Qantas enough for their attention to detail.
Upgraded to Business class, presented with champagne and a large single malt, hoisted on a fork lift truck, lost cases, missed flights.

Never a dull moment when we fly.

Alicante Holiday August 2016 by Dawn Wilbur

Hi lovely people! 

I’m Dawn…a little bit about my life with the Neuromuscular Centre which has played a major role for the past 22 years …. in a positive way, I hasten to add. I moved to Cheshire from Kent (my husband and I did not know a soul in Cheshire – scary!) and fortunately discovered  the NMC - situated only 4 miles away! Lynne Groves, Gordon Styles, Woolley and Cundall family (“the originals”) soon made us feel welcome and had me organized with physiotherapy sessions (cannot express how euphoric those treatments felt considering I had not received any physiotherapy for 19 years prior!)….hydrotherapy, office work, fundraising events and incredible, lifelong, friendships soon blossomed :) with many, many more amazing friends connected to this unique, innovative centre of excellence!

Anyway, if anyone is still awake! ..…I’d like to tell you the practicalities/niceties of my holiday experience to Alicante in August 2016; from a mother of a teenager (woteva!) point of view … oh, also, forgot to mention! I use a dual controlled, powered wheelchair for mobility and hoists for transfers – here goes… 

Alicante is the capital of the Costa Blanca with a mixture of historic buildings, beautiful beaches and serene harbour.  

A superb shopping centre with a huge choice of fashion shops, department stores, restaurants, and bars. 90% of the Cathedral can be viewed from a chilled, seated, eye level. Santa Barbara Castle overlooks spectacular views of the City and Mediterranean Sea - accessible via a levelled tunnel and manned lift. Beaches have wooden slatted ramps for wheelchair/pushchair access and one beach has special aqua-chairs to take you in to the sea.

We stayed at a Melia Hotel TRYP Alicante Gran Sol - accessible rooms which catered for medium sized wheelchairs, lifts were not very particularly spacious, restaurant and all employees were extremely helpful when required.  

MobilityEquipmentHireDirect.com  T: 0800 994 9000 hired a portable hoist for hotel which was in situ on arrival.

WheelchairAccessibleHolidayTaxis.com  T: 0800 622 6000  transfers ran smoothly: driver extremely helpful (took my headrest on the airplane)… dread being bobbed around in the back of a taxi like a nodding canine. 

Manchester T3 changing room is at departures only (as far as I know) gate 53 around or that area. I am flying in June so I am trying to liaise with airport access team to provide a portable hoist for arrivals.

New York - Here We Come by David Tucker

My wife has always wanted to go to New York, we have been to Florida but never the Big Apple.

We discussed our holidays and thought lets go for it. I have never taken a wheelchair on a plane before, but I booked my power chair on and away we went. I booked business class, and was worried about getting out of the seats. My condition is a weakening of the thighs and arms so it is difficult to rise from a sitting position. I have an up easy seat assist which I put in my power chair and I used this on the aircraft seat. It was a bit uncomfortable but I managed the 7hr journey ok.
On arrival at JFK I was met with my chair and assisted through homeland security. We had booked an adapted transfer vehicle for me and my chair, and taken to our hotel in Times Square. We were amazed at Times Square, the lights, noise etc . The accessible room in the Hilton, where we were staying was nothing special, only 1 pull down grab rail at the side of the toilet, disappointing, but I managed with my wife’s help.

The following morning we went across to the local Diner, for breakfast, wow more like
breakfast, lunch and tea all on one plate.  We signed up for an open top bus tour 3 days for the price of 2. On checking this I found that most of the Buses had an automatic ramp that came out of the bus entrance for wheelchairs prams etc. This made life easy and we visited the Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central Station, and Central Park. We visited the John Lennon Memorial Strawberry Fields in Central Park, which was very moving. The tour also took us to the Empire State Building and we enjoyed the views from the top. I was advised to book the trip to the Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island in the UK which I did and it was a good job i did as the queues for the Ferry went on for ever.

Another  visit was to the Ground Zero memorial and this is a must for anyone visiting New York. We also managed to take in 3 Broadway Shows courtesy of reduced ticket prices via the half price ticket booth on Times Square. We were told to go to the front of the queue which we did and so had first pick of the shows.

We both fully enjoyed the trip, the locals were very respectful of me in my power chair and always insisted I went to the front of the “Line” as they call the queue. The only disappointment for me was that they didn’t have separate disabled toilets. They had disabled toilets, sure but these were either in the men’s or ladies, and this was a problem when I needed assistance from my wife, we had to get a security guard to stand in front of the main door and not let anyone in until we had come out.

We thoroughly enjoyed the week, the October weather was kind to us and apart from the traffic chaos everything went well despite our previous concerns and we can recommend the trip.

Where next to you might add, well we have booked a 2 week cruise in the Baltic ending up in St Petersburg in July so watch this space.

Useful Car Products

Pinpoint
Do you have difficulty refilling your car? With a Pinpoint key fob simply press the button and you can stay in the driving seat while a member of staff refuels your car. With over 200 participating garages, the nearest to the NeuroMuscular Centre is at Sainsburys in Northwich. www.pinpointbycontacta. co.uk.

 
Eurokey
Yet another thing to add to your keyring if it doesn’t already look like it belongs to a prison warder.  If you find a Radar key useful and are travelling in Switzerland, Austria, Germany or the Czech Republic you may find that you will need a Eurokey. The universal key gives access to disabled
toilet facilities as well as lifts and cloakrooms. www.eurokey.ch

Pumpkin Universal Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount Holder & Cradle

If you keep loosing your phone down the side of your seat this, useful magnetic gadget sticks your phone on your dashboard.  Sanjay uses his big heavy Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in his VW Transporter. It doesn’t interfere with the operation of the phone or the bluetoothness. The phone stays in place over speed bumps and potholes.  

Useful Travel Websites

3Hfund.org.uk
Last year, 3H helped over 750 disabled people, and their carers, to get a break away. They provide subsidised group holidays for the physically disabled at well researched venues – giving their carers a valuable period of respite at the same time.

lyneal-trust.org.uk
The Lyneal Trust offers adapted canal boats and cottage holidays for day trips or full week holidays in beautiful North Shropshire for people with disabilities, their family, friends and carers. 
abta.com/tips-and-latest/accessible-travel ABTA has a checklist for disabled and less mobile passengers that can be completed and sent to your travel agent to identify your requirements and provide appropriate support.

hoegrangeholidays.co.uk
These attractive log cabins in the Peak District were winner of the 2015 Catey’s Accessibility Award and are one of this year’s finalists of the Access for All Tourism Award. 

openbritain.net
This well designed website for accessible tourism in the UK lets you to filter holidays that meet your specific access needs to find suitable destinations and places to stay, whether this means wheelchair access or bathroom adaptations.  All of the properties are self-assessed, however if you are looking for some extra assurance look out for the Visit England logo on venues that have been professionally assessed.

pitchup.com
Fancy a bit of glamping in a pod in the middle of Wales or a caravan holiday. This site includes a filter for sites with disabled facilities.

accessibleguide.co.uk
Packed with over 200 inspiring ideas for fantastic worry-free days out with reviews, hints and tips on some of the UK’s best attractions written by and for disabled people.