My wife and I have returned from a 6 week tour through Singapore and Australia and thought you might be interested in some feedback. I am permanently confined to a wheelchair through spinal muscular atrophy. For the purposes of travel evaluations please bear in mind that I am lightweight, my folding manual wheelchair is narrow (22 inches), and that we enjoy 'walking' as much as possible, often covering over 12 miles per day. We generally 'hit the streets' at around 09h30, and return to our accomodation after 21h00. The 'access' discussed here is obviously from a wheelchair point-of-view.
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Singapore was warm, sometimes wet, clean, beautiful and personally hospitable, but not very wheelchair friendly. We visited the Jurong Bird Park, the Zoo, the Night Safari, Boat Quay, the business district, Orchard Road, Chinatown, Little India, and Sentoza Island.
Bits and pieces of Singapore are wheelchair accessible. They've got ramped pavements, and some disabled toilets, but none of it really hangs together, and their public transport systems are complete no-no's (i.e. MRT and buses). We used cabs, but if you haven't got someone to lift you in and out then they won't work. What I mean by 'hang together' is that, for example on Sentoza Island, the ground floor cable station level has a ramped entrance and disabled toilets, and the 1st floor cablecar station is ramped and accessible, but there is no way of getting between the ground floor and the 1st floor, other than up a long flight of stairs. The hotels seem to think an accessible room means a spacious room, and therefore have no concept of hand rails, roll-in showers, leg access under handbasins, etc. I can't comment on 5-star establishments. Singaporeans appear to believe that one uses a wheelchair much like a skateboard or bicycle, i.e. to get from A to B and then you get out of it and go the last couple of yards on foot. They really don't seem to understand the circumstance of 'permanent confinement to a wheelchair'. This is most noticeable when one books a day-trip. They will happily sit with you and discuss the days events, take your money, issue the tickets, etc, and then express amazement when you don't leap out your wheelchair to climb the stairs into the tour bus! This is no big deal to me, but it is worth bearing in mind when planning a trip, or dealing with hotels, transport, etc. It is important to understand that their culture pressurises them to never say 'no', regardless of whether it is correct or not, they will always say 'yes' to a question. If you ask whether a room is accessible the answer will always be 'yes', even if there are stairs at the front door! This phenomenon is well documented, and is not intended as a criticism, but rather a pointer for first-time visitors.
Jurong Bird Park is mostly accessible (including the mono-rail), as is the Zoo, and the Night Safari (only one of the trams is accessible). Boat Quay, the business district, Chinatown, and Little India offer limited access even if you have assistance. Modern developments like the huge SunTec City (with its 4-storey high 'Fountain of Wealth') are fully accessible, with modern toilets and inter-level lifts. Other attractions, depending on your tastes and size of wallet can include the Raffles Hotel, LamPaSat food court in the downtown business district (almost 100 stalls offering a wonderful selection of meals), the Satay Club, and Mustafa Centre (where else in the world could you buy food, toothpaste and a wig from the same kerbside vendor?!). The Indian Quarter is not wheelchair accessible, and the Chinese Quarter offers very limited access.
Sentoza Island, a type of seaside-resort-cum-Disney-experience, can be OK on a good day, but hugely frustrating on a bad one. We hit a bad one . . . with the mono-rail out of action, no accessible buses, no accessible trams, no accessible paths or trails, and construction on the beaches. We were left with only the roads as an option, and they can be very steep. We met a middle-aged couple on Sentoza where the husband was also wheelchair bound and they called it quits after an hour and headed back for the 'mainland'. Our feeling was that our time on Sentoza could have been better spent elsewhere.
Set against this we found the people to be very friendly and generally quite willing to assist here and there when needed. Singapore is wonderfully green and lush (it's not very far from the equator), with beautiful roads and parkways covered in blooming flowers and creepers. Service in stores and restaurants is excellent. Be ready to beome something of a local attraction. On more than one occasion a food vendor would serve us a delicious meal and then sit down nearby and watch us eat every morsel. Singapore comes in for a lot of criticism regarding its laws governing social behaviour, i.e. no spitting in the streets, no littering, no jay-walking, etc. Coming from South Africa where so many people seem to treat the country as a rubbish tip we found this to be somewhat unfair on Singaporeans, and found the clean and orderly state of their nation to be a real pleasure.
Would be go back to Singapore? . . . It was worth the first-time visiting experience, and the food was good, but getting around was a real mission.
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Australia is an entirely different kettle of fish for a disabled person, and is by far the most wheelchair accessible country we have visited to date (USA and UK, wake up guys! you're lagging behind). No matter where you go, from the smallest country town, to the largest of the cities you will find ramps, accessible toilets, and accessible transport. Don't get me wrong, it's not wheelchair paradise, but it is a pleasure to travel in.
We toured, in order, . . . Melbourne, Tasmania, the Great Ocean Road, the Snowy Mountains, Canberra, the Blue Mountains, Sydney, Cairns, and Brisbane. We used Ansett Airlines for the main legs, four Hertz hire cars, ferrys, jetcats, cabs, and a train for transport.
Melbourne was warm and very walkable in terms of its topography and size. The Rialto Towers provide great city views by day or night (plus a pretty good movie on Melbourne). The SouthBank area (on the Yarra river) is a good place for eating and strolling, with a great vibe on a balmy summers evenings as city workers hold informal parties on the banks and watch friends rowing or cycling by. The SouthBank development extends a long way down into the Crown Casino complex for those seeking late night entertainment. Shoppers or bargain hunters might enjoy the daytime Victoria Street Market, a huge undercover collection of stalls selling clothing, gifts, food, and household items. Sportspersons will also appreciate, as we did, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the Tennis stadium (home of the Australian Open). The Chinese (some great restaurants) and Greek Quarters are also worth a visit although they can be tricky in places with a wheelchair. Melbourne pitches itself as the “cultural” centre of Australia, and we would probably agree with that.
Tasmania was simple and relatively unspoilt, giving the impression of being one big rural community. We based ourselves in Hobart (only a one hour flight from Melbourne) for three days, taking day trips down to the Port Arthur penal colony museum, the Huon Valley and Hastings Forest, and Bonerong Animal Park. Mt.Wellington offers very good views over Hobart and its surrounds (lots of bays and inlets), and on a summers evening the Elizabeth Pier down in the harbour is a great place to stroll and try some local fish and chips. We then drove west to Russell Falls and Lake St.Claire, and on to Strahan / Queenstown for the all day Gordon River Cruise through the protected World Heritage Area which was a highlight. Then it was on to Cradle Mountain and Launceston (Cataract Gorge) in the north. We covered over 1000 miles in the hire car, it is not a small island! Although Tasmania obviously forms part of Australia, it really is a world apart . . . it has a farming community feel, there is no desire for designer brand clothing, and the only people talking on cellphones are the tourists. Their down-to-earth lifestyle is best demonstrated for us by the 'honesty box' system which we saw in the Huon Valley. These are un-manned stalls, on the roadside, stocked with local fruit where one deposits your money in a tin can, and take your bag of apples, relying entirely on you to transact the deal honestly. It’s a throwback to times gone by and incredibly refreshing to see.
Back on the mainland, the Great Ocean Road (west of Melbourne) rivals the USA's Highway 1 and hugs a stunning and jagged coastline for 100-odd miles. The Twelve Apostles is arguably its most well known rock formation, but don't miss out on London Bridge, The Grotto, and The Arch. Americans touring this part of the world might find it strange to see so many places named after their home country. We found it odd and wondered why the Australians felt a need to use names like 'Bel Air', or 'Monterey' when they quite clearly will never be related back to Aussie! We felt they needn't have outsourced the naming of the district, and should rather have used local naming conventions.
Turning inland and east the we drove inland to the Snowy Mountains, using the little town of Khancoban as our base. The weather turned wet and misty on us but we did manage the Yarrangobilly Caves (wheelchair accessible). One of the accessible caves has been kept in pristine condition (other than the mods for access) and this was quite a breath-taking sight with some of the most delicate and beautiful stalactite and stalactite formations imagineable. The guide, who can assist with the wheelchair, was excellent.
Continuing east . . . Canberra was spacious, pretty and interesting, with an excellent war memorial and museums. The Telstra Tower offers good elevated views of the city and surrounds, and the large Lake Burley-Griffin has accessible paths and walking trails in every direction. The city seems to be styled on WashingtonDC with the parliamentary building at one end of a long and wide pedestrian mall, and the war memorial at the other.
The Blue Mountains (Katoomba) were misty and rainy during our time but this seems to be perfectly normal weather conditions. We tried the SkyWay cablecar and the Zig-Zag Railway (both partially accessible). The Zig-Zag station is ramped and they’ve got a folding ramp onto the train but it is a bit narrow. The Three Sisters is the main attraction in Katoomba, and if its misty then the local iMAX theatre and its feature on the region is a good option.
We had high expectations of Sydney but it let us down slightly, providing us with the worst accomodation of the trip (the YWCA) and some conflicting railway access. The 2000 Olympics are being held very far away from Sydney (you can't see the stadium from the Centrepoint AMP Tower), thank heavens, because the city is a traffic nightmare. We quickly learned that portions of the city are wheelchair no-go areas (terrible pavements and badly ramped), but others such as Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, Chinatown, the the botanical gardens are perfect. George and MacQuarie streets are 'wheelchair' access routes running north-south down either side of the CBD, most of the other streets are probably best avoided unless you've got a good pusher! The state ferries in and around the harbour are accessible (some of the private ones are not), as are those out to Manly and they’re great fun too. |
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