Jonny’s latest Northern Advocate column:
When one goes travelling, the most common way of taking in the sight and vibe of a new place is by walking. However, when your average walking speed is about 0.3km/h and your range is about 100m, it’s more ‘still life’ than a walk in the park.
I’m scrabbling round doing last minute packing and unpacking for my trip to the UK. My wife has already been there for four weeks.
Planning an overseas trip when you have a disability takes on a different facet. You need to organise your trip so that you can do what you want to do and see what you want to see.
When one goes traveling, the most common way of taking in the sight and vibe of a new place is by walking. However, when your average walking speed is about 0.3km/h and your range is about 100 m, it's a bit more 'still life' than a walk in the park.
I needed to source a lightweight mobility scooter small enough to easily pack into planes, trains and automobiles, without doing in our backs or causing mayhem and dramas at busy junctures.
I thought it would be easy to hire one over there. I thought it would be relatively inexpensive. I was wrong on both counts.
There are a myriad of mobility scooter hire outfits in England, but few had the light weight, foldable, collapsing George Jetson-style contraption I was after.
Those that had them charged one hell of a hefty hire fee. So what did I do? I went to Trade Me of course.
After much online stalking I pounced on a pre-loved, exotically named Tzora Classic Israeli scooter which I bought for a little bit more than the cost of hiring one over there. It is very nifty and folds up into a shape one can tote around like a suitcase on wheels. The only problem was one had to stoop in order to tote it.
My friendly colleagues at Whangarei Engineering, who service scooters, used their prowess and welded an extra handle on so, if we go to Notre Dame, I won’t be mistaken…
So I was sorted. Yeah nah.
The recent hover board craze has had an unfortunate impact on the rules around transporting anything with a lithium-ion battery like my new second hand scooter. Our awesome travel agent Sharon had to spend a lot of time on the phone to numerous airlines to find out if they'd take my scooter and, if so, how they would like it gift wrapped.
So, in the name of air security, I'm busy taping up terminals and bagging the battery as part of my pre-flight prep.
[Image result for cobblestone wharf england] I am hoping that the scooter copes with the cobblestones (not to mention my family jewels) and the cargo handling is worth all the fuss on the other side of the world.
But for now, it is all about getting on that big bird and sinking back into the nearly 30 hours of inflight intensity. So farewell all, until I return in July with stories of the scooter and the streets on the other side of the world.
Downloadable pdf below:
| Available Downloads | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Overcoming hurdles with scooter | 271 KB |