Category: A Different Light

A Different Light – 17th January 2026 – Northland accessible accommodation demand surges as disabled guests book out respite house

The summer holiday has been and gone. After three weeks of free-range indulgence, it’s somewhat of a challenge to fall back into the vigour of nine ‘til five. Three weeks of cocktails by the pool. Bloody Marys, Mojitos, and the dependable G & T. No more!

Christmas ham done multiple ways- eggs and ham, ham rolls, quesadillas- all but a distant memory now.

I gnawed my way through two books given to me for Christmas, both hilarious, both macabre, both reflective on how media played their role in the dramas. One was Polkinghorne by Steve Braunias. One of his descriptions read:

“Say his name three times into a mirror and you might see him suddenly appear behind you, a blue-eyed voodoo doll, a demon of wealth and white privilege hulking up and down on his madly socked feet, Polkinghorne, Polkinghorne, Polkinghorne.”

The other book was somewhat older- I, Fatty by Jerry Stahls. One of the lines from the fictional autobiographical-styled book that stood out to me was a self-deprecating quip:

“I was as close to happy as you can get, if you’re a pre-pubescent the size of a polar bear.”

During the break, we had another furry addition to the family who replaced Lola the Sidney Silky who passed away last year. Nina (after Nina Simone) is a Bengal kitten who we acquired over the holidays. She ricochets around the house with jungle-like fluidity, with an energy level like she has been smoking pure cat-nip out of a glass pipe. She’s feisty to a point of rough-play-induced pain. I’m still really wary and quietly anxious about how big she’ll grow.

Over the holidays, Trump has gone ballistic with Venezuela and Aussie caught fire. Over the holidays, Manage my Health was hacked to smithereens; thousands of patients’ documents are leaked- mine included. I’m not too worried; my health conditions are fairly black and white, the discharge documents that were purloined are benign.

I do know, though, many people have specialist letters, referrals, and reports stored in that system. Being told that information may have been accessed by hackers is unsettling. It creates a breach not just of data, but of trust. Trust that systems designed to support us will actually do so safely.

Over the summer, our respite house went gang busters. To increase the occupancy rate of the house we advertised it on Booking.com as accessible accommodation late last year. Well, bookings have gone through the roof! It has been booked solid throughout the summer period. While it exists to provide respite, it has also been used by disabled people and families visiting Northland from out of town. They are staying because there are so few genuinely accessible accommodation options available. They are not looking for luxury. They are looking for somewhere they can safely shower, sleep, and move around without risk, stress, or improvisation.

Too often, accommodation is advertised as accessible but turns out not to be usable in practice. A ramp leads to narrow doorways. Bathrooms lack grab rails. Shower doors swing inward and block wheelchair access. Beds are fixed against walls with no space for transfers or carers. The label says “accessible”, but the reality says otherwise.

Each of these experiences chips away at trust.

Trust matters. Whether it’s trusting a health system to protect your information, or trusting accommodation providers to accurately describe what they offer, disabled people are constantly weighing risk. When that trust is broken, the consequences are immediate and personal. It’s like an eggshell in a potato salad, like a fishbone in a smoked fish pie.

If Northland wants to grow its tourism offering in a sustainable way, accessibility cannot be an afterthought. It must be built in from the start- not just as a ramp at the front door, but as thoughtful, usable design that reflects how people actually move through and live in a space. Because real access is not about labels or systems. It’s about whether people can arrive, stay, and participate with dignity and enjoyment.

Trust me, I know.
 

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 13th December 2025 – 2025 a year of setbacks, wins and hope

As 2025 draws to a close, I have been looking back over the year’s columns. Twelve months of stories, frustrations, absurdities, wasp attacks, social change, policy shifts, and tiny sparks of hope. What emerges is a portrait of a country and a community still trying to find its footing on the path toward inclusion, sometimes gracefully and sometimes like David Seymour twerking on ice.

The year began with the fallout from government cuts and confusion in the disability sector. The year before, policies landed without warning or consultation, leaving disabled people scrambling to figure out what supports they still had. Later in the year, the Ministry attempted to tidy up the mess through widespread engagement. Although to be fair, some of the so-called consultation felt more like being handed a set menu rather than being invited into the kitchen to help design it. Still, it was a step forward from the chaos of 2024.

The challenge for 2026 is making sure disabled people are not just listened to but actually heard. We also need to ensure that the new outcome-based planning model does not quietly slide back into old-school medical thinking dressed up in modern language.

Much of this year involved confronting the consequences of systems that simply are not built for everyone. The most shocking example was the case of the autistic 11 year old girl who was misidentified, restrained, and injected under the Mental Health Act. A brutal reminder of what happens when organisational culture, understanding of neurodiversity, and basic human decency all fail at the same time.

We also saw health inequity in action through the story of Blake Forbes, a young man with cerebral palsy who could not get a basic diagnostic scan. It is astonishing that in 2025 we still lack solid disability data, let alone equitable pathways through the health system.

Yet there were bright spots. The establishment of a National Autism Research Centre. A long overdue focus on mobility parking misuse. Early signs that residential services may finally get the investment they have needed for decades. And here in Tai Tokerau, a community movement that has stepped up with real momentum.

Our EGL Leadership Group has been out in the community conducting accessibility audits in Whangarei town centre and running their famous EGL discos. These gatherings regularly see up to 60 tangata whaikaha dancing, laughing, and occasionally partying until sunrise. If you want a glimpse of genuine inclusion, look no further than a room full of disabled people outlasting the average nightclub crowd.

This year also brought a significant win when the Whangarei Accessible Housing Trust offered us a fully accessible rental home. This allowed Tiaho Trust to finally provide a much needed respite service for disabled people and their families. After years of unmet need, it has been gratifying to see a practical, community driven solution take shape.

Across the year’s columns, humour has remained one of my favourite tools for unpacking heavier issues. My travel misadventures alone could fill a book. There was the time I was strapped into a bright pink airport wheelchair and rolled through the terminal like a trussed turkey. Or the day at Auckland Zoo when my nearly flat mobility scooter gave up halfway between the meerkats and the coffee cart. And of course the now legendary wasp incident, which resembled a Shakespearean tragedy involving a wrought iron chair, a cloudless sky, and several angry insects with a talent for dramatic timing.

There were lighter cultural observations too. Jason Momoa’s dream of becoming a Kiwi, which may depend on surviving our notoriously strict disability screening for immigration. The slow decline of enthusiasm for the Melbourne Cup. My ever growing collection of bizarre vintage cookbooks. And the uniquely Kiwi habit of freezing outside while sweating under six blankets inside.

But the strongest thread this year has been inclusion, not as a buzzword but as something lived. The joy of an accessible mid winter dinner where disabled people were the norm. The Getting Out There Expo celebrating businesses and spaces that are doing it right. And this year’s International Day Disabled People theme, which finally made sense in practice rather than theory.

If there is one message from 2025 I want to carry into 2026, it is this. Progress does not come from declarations. It comes from community, persistence, visibility, and the belief that inclusion benefits all of us.
Here is to 2026. May it bring more action, more collaboration, fewer wasps, and many more reasons to celebrate what is possible when we work together.

I wish you all an inclusive Christmas and a diverse New Year.

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 29th November 2025 – International Day of Disabled Persons 2025 focuses on real inclusion

For years, we have celebrated the International Day of Disabled Persons. Every year the day has a theme. For once, the theme lands. This year’s theme finally speaks to the real work, aspirations and lived experiences of disabled people: “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress.”

In the past, the themes have been so lofty, abstract, and jargon-laden that they have floated far above the daily realities of disabled people. While the intention from the United Nations has always been noble, past themes of the Day have often felt disconnected from the lived experiences of those of us they were meant to uplift.

For example take the theme “Transformative Solutions for Inclusive Development: The Role of Innovation in Fuelling an Accessible and Equitable World” (2022). Worthy? Yes. Memorable? Hardly. It read like the output of a UN committee thesaurus session, not a theme that resonates with whānau seeking basic accessibility, transport, or support services.

Another example: “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want” (2016). This was less a disability theme and more an umbrella reference to the Sustainable Development Goals- very PC, but so broad it meant everything and nothing at the same time. And then there was “Leaving No One Behind” (2019), a theme so universally applicable it could have been used for almost any social issue. It didn’t speak to the unique barriers or aspirations of disabled communities.

Themes like these often fail to land because they are vague, globalised, and detached from everyday life. They don’t speak to inaccessible footpaths, under-resourced support services, funding cuts, or the lived discrimination disabled people face. They sound inspirational, but they don’t inspire action.

This year is different. The 2024–25 theme, “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress,” finally hits the mark. It is grounded, practical, and specific. It acknowledges something many disabled advocates have been saying for decades: true social progress isn’t possible unless disabled people are at the centre of it. Inclusion isn’t a “nice to have,” it is essential to a thriving society.

This theme speaks directly to what we see in Tai Tokerau every day. You cannot build a strong region if 24% of the population is left navigating barriers alone. You cannot call a system fair if disabled people are constantly expected to fit into structures never designed with them in mind. And you cannot talk about progress while accessibility, participation, and equity remain afterthoughts.

Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress aligns with the kaupapa of Tiaho Trust and the Tai Tokerau Enabling Good Lives (EGL) Leadership Group, both of which work to amplify disabled leadership and strengthen community connection. The theme isn’t abstract to us- it’s something we are actively building in Northland every day.
So to celebrate this year’s International Day of Disabled Persons, Tiaho Trust and the EGL Leadership Group will be participating in the CDL Christmas Parade. If you’re reading this early enough this Saturday morning, come down and check it out.

What better way to embody inclusion than by being visible, joyful, and present in a public Christmas parade? This year’s theme tells the world that disabled people belong at the centre of community life, not on the margins, not in policy documents, but right there on the main street, waving, laughing.

Now that’s a theme worth celebrating.

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 15th November 2025 – Once a national ritual, the Melbourne Cup now stirs mixed feelings

Once upon a time, the first Tuesday in November stopped two nations. Offices paused, televisions flicked on, and the Melbourne Cup was treated like a sacred ritual. Closer to home, Addington Raceway in Christchurch would hum with the same sense of glamour and excitement. People dressed up, placed their bets, and cheered on horses they knew little about beyond their odds.

On Melbourne Cup Day I would desperately try and get hold of my podiatrist Malcolm who knows a thing or two about horse racing to give me a hot tip. I would then queue up at the TAB and place a box trifecta for an extortionate amount of dollars that would ultimately fail. But I enjoyed getting caught up in the hysteria of the day.

But lately, something has shifted. The noise feels more muted. The glamour a little faded. The sight of horses being whipped down the straight no longer carries the same thrill for many of us. Instead, there’s an unease, an internal grimace.

Reports of animal cruelty, injuries, and the number of horses “retired” or euthanised after their usefulness has ended have steadily eroded the hype. What was once a celebration of sport now feels, like an echo of an outdated gladiatorial spectacle a reminder of how our values evolve. The world is becoming more conscious of how we treat animals, the environment, and even each other. The idea of forcing animals to perform for our entertainment doesn’t sit as easily in a society that’s learning to care more deeply and think more critically.

Even the TAB that great institution of the Kiwi punt feels caught in the same shift. It’s still there, but not quite the community fixture it once was. The rise of online gambling has made betting more private, less social, and sometimes more harmful. Yet there’s another way to think about the TAB.

In the disability world, TAB means a non-disabled person as in, ‘Temporarily Able-Bodied’. Meaning that everyone will experience disability at some stage in their life. It may be as a result of an accident, or simply the aging process which is bound to give you an impairment of one kind or another.

Disability is a naturally occurring part of life. My friend Jon has experienced this. He recently had surgery on his shoulder for an old rugby wound. It was more extensive than he had predicted. They detached both muscles from the joint as they cleaned up cartilage and bone fragments. Jon is usually a very hands-on kind of a guy, always up to something physical but after the op his left arm was mummified in bandages. His hand looked like Andre the Giant’s hand with a zombie hue to it. He’s fast becoming familiar with doing things in a one-handed fashion.

It made me pause. Because that little acronym sums up a lot. We’re all, in a sense, temporarily able-bodied one accident, one illness, or one surgery away from needing support or adaptation. It’s a humbling thought, and maybe one that invites a bit more compassion, for humans and animals alike.

Maybe that’s part of the reason why events like the Melbourne Cup or Addington no longer feel like national holidays. We’re changing. We’re learning to value empathy over spectacle, connection over competition. The gloss of the old traditions is giving way to a matte understanding that life in all its forms deserves respect.

Times are changing.

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 1st November 2025 – Retro cookbooks and the bizarre recipes that time forgot

Now, Steve Braunias writes a damn good column: hilarious, sharp and lyrical. One of his recent pieces resonated with me deeply. It was in the October 11 edition of NZ Listener and was entitled ‘Dinner is Cooked’. He wrote about old cookbooks. How funny they were. How awful they can be. Thanks, Steve, handy column fodder!

When I started to become enthralled with cooking- when I realised I actually could physically cook (this was shortly after realising my new girlfriend- now my wife- could not cook), I started to collect old cookbooks. I admit a hopeful nostalgia for retro cooking was brewing. This soon turned into a perverse masochistically curiosity about how grotesque some of the dishes were. My collection didn’t grow very large. My wife put her foot down fairly quickly.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “These are just too much.”

Even though my collection only grew to four books, they sure still pack a punch.

First, there was ‘The Festival of Meat Cookery’- a publication by Jan McBride from 1971 in New York. It had some rather inventive recipes like Hamburger Stroganoff which used a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, Enchilada Fiesta (to carry on the festival theme) and Baby Beef Liver with Bacon Gravy- need I say more.
The next book to complement my collection was ‘Meet with Beef’, a jolly use of homophones published by the NZ Hereford Cattle Breeders’ Association (Inc) in 1984. Its chapter on mince was extensive. Perky-Mince, eight meat loaf recipes, and a staggering twelve meatball recipes.

The third book in my tiny collection was Peter Russell-Clarke’s ‘Egg Cookbook’ from Aussie in 1979. While there were some mind-boggling recipes that were quite gripping (not in a good way) like Fungus Eggs, Steamed Egg Custard ‘n’ Seafood and Whiting and Grapes, it was the cover that grabbed me. It was a photo of Peter Russell-Clarke in full vintage ensemble gazing up at a raw egg that looked seconds away from being matted to his 70’s hair and beard. He also wore a necklace that was remarkable; it consisted of shells, metal and what appears to be a bullet-casing at the apex. I googled him and apparently he was one of the first Australian celebrity chefs. I found a short YouTube video. In disbelief, I watched as he cooked an omelette with a big slice of mango, half a raw fig and a large piece of salmon. Job done!

The crescendo of my collection is called ‘The Personality of Meat’. It’s a somewhat voyeuristic book published by the Cold Storage Commission of Rhodesia. Now, some of the recipes are truly horrific. In the section pre-ambled ‘Don’t forget the Variety Meats’, it has Stuffed Liver, Liver and Rice, Lip-smacking Liver, Poor Man’s Goose (a.ka. liver), Adam’s Liver, Barbequed Liver and not to mention- Calf’s Head Pie. However, as I explained to Steve Braunias, when I emailed him evidence of my collection at his request- to his readers’, the pièce de résistance of this book is pictorial. It’s a photo of the ‘Man-in-the-moon Salad’. It consisted of a plate of rice, complete with breakfast sausages for eyebrows, eggs and raisins for the eyeballs, and a singular slice of carrot as a nose. Hideous!

I never have cooked any one of these recipes. Instead, I would just sit there and read them out incredulously. No wonder my wife grew sick of it and put an end to my aspirations for a vast collection of grotesque recipe books.

Mind you, those fungus eggs sound intriguing….

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 4th October 2025 – Young disabled people don’t belong in rest homes

Shock, horror! This week the issue of young disabled people living in rest homes hit the national headlines! If only it really was “news”, as in “new”. Sadly, this situation is nothing new.

When I started working in the disability sector, over 20 years ago, the acronym, YPD was regularly used. For me it brought to mind NYPD Blues, the gritty, cool TV series about New York Police (yes, this ages me). But no, in the disability sector, while certainly gritty the meaning of YPD was not in any way cool. On the contrary, YPD units were Young People’s Disabled units in old age rest homes. I was shocked back then at the notion of a relatively young person having to live in an old-age home. So, while sadly it is not a new practice, It is right that it is being raised again in the media. I didn’t like it then and the concept remains unpalatable.

There are currently over 800 people in NZ who are under the age of 65 and living in rest homes, according to recent news articles. In Northland there are currently twelve rest homes with Young Disabled People’s Units. This comprises seven in Whangarei, four in the Mid-North, and one in the Far-North.

There is widespread agreement disabled people require a wide range of living options, providing various levels of support. Residentials facilities are a much-needed option in this range. There has been a reluctance from Government to invest in these services. This is because in the past there have been some large residential institutions that were lacking in terms of choice and control for disabled people to live how they wished. Today, however, surely, we have the experience and expertise so that residential settings no longer have to be like this. Providers here in Tai Tokerau have shown disabled people can live in facilities where they are treated with respect, have choices, and be involved in their communities. Kaurilands and Greenways in the Kaipara, are great examples of high-quality residential facilities where disabled people are supported to be involved in their communities.

Kaurilands residents work for the Kaipara Refuge Trust, they volunteer for the Hospice Shop and do many other activities. They are at capacity; their last vacancy was three years ago.
Greenways Trust has a social enterprise depot, where they carry out carpentry and make various products. They are also very involved with their community. Their last vacancy was over a year ago. There needs to be more residential facilities like Kaurilands and the Greenways Trust. They both provide excellent support for their residents to live good lives.

What is not appropriate is for disabled people who are under the age of 65 to be living in old age care facilities. Rest homes are experts in providing care for their specialist area- elderly folk. This demographic has its own needs and cultural requirements. As do younger disabled folk. While I may no longer qualify, as the latter, I do not yet qualify for rest home status simply because I’m disabled! Mind you, I was horrified the other day when I looked at my invoice from my chiropodist and they had given me an over 65 discount! After this shock I spent a little while reflecting on the style of my clothes, my haircut and the size of my eyebags.
The Government needs to do some reflection too. They need to reflect on supporting the development of a range of living options for disabled people that are fit for purpose, giving their residents dignity, respect and choice. Young Disabled people living is aged care is nothing new, it’s aged old, but it needs to be fixed now.

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 6th September 2025 – “It’s time for a fresh look at disability strategy in New Zealand”

Spring is springing up all around us – the odd daffodil and lamb tell us that Winter is officially over despite the lasting chill. Things are sprouting up on the disability front, also!

Spring brings to mind refreshment, after a long and actually pretty gnarly winter for Aotearoa. Getting a spring clean is the country’s Disability Strategy. Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People is having a new look at how the strategy will roll out for 2026-2030. Tiaho Trust will be hosting a Whaikaha led consultation hui on the Draft NZ Disability Strategy for 2026-2030. The hui will be on the 15th of September at 12.30 at the Hope Church 1 Hunt Street Whangarei, New Zealand Sign language Interpreters will be present and everyone is welcome. Priority areas of the NZDS are Education, Employment, Health, Housing, Justice. Phew, big areas, but setting up such strategies is the way other practical changes that benefit disabled can be brought to life. And there are good people bringing to life such changes all around us as the season changes.

While the government recently increased the fine for misuse of mobility carparks to an eyewatering $750, private carparks currently escape this net. There is however a new crackdown on this mis-use. Leading the charge on this is CCS, Disability Action who administer the permits. They are working with Wilson Carparks initially to identify when patrons are using permits that belong to someone else. As CCS, Disability Action‘s Vivian Naylor wryly commented on Radio New Zealand, if other members of the family think “We’ll use Granny’s mobility card, so that we can park more easily somewhere to park closer” they will hopefully be nabbed under the proposed system , as their details are checked against that of the permit-holder.

Another move promising great growth to come is the establishment of New Zealand’s Autism Research Centre. The Centre will be led in collaboration Autistic people and it is committed to the mantra that never gets old in our sector, “Nothing about us, without us”. Bringing together our research for our unique part of the world is well overdue. There are a number of organisations carrying out their own research in this area – to have a single point of reference and collaboration – between organisations such as Altogether Autism and the Autism New Zealand can only improve outcomes for our Autistic community. The community will be watching with interest as to how this initiative leads to changes on the ground -in services to the Autistic community.

I am keen to see how these seeds of inspiration grow green shoots and flourish in the future. Happy spring, all!

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 23rd August 2025 – David’s Legacy

This week Tiaho Trust lost not only a Trustee, but a steady hand and wise presence, who has helped to guide us for the past twenty years. David Senior’s sudden passing has left us with a mixture of shock, sadness, and gratitude for the his time, energy, insight, balance, and genuine care for the Disability Community in Tai Tokerau.

David Senior was a well-known community leader in both the Mid and Far North. He was involved with a staggering amount of community organisations, including: the Far North Regional Museum Trust; Kaitaia Budgeting Services; Northland Kindergarten Association; Far North Disability Resource Centre; Far North District Council Disability Advisory Group; Te Hiku Sports Hub Incorporated; Elevate (Christian Disability Trust), and of course Tiaho Trust. Like all of the Trustees on the Tiaho Board, David also had an impairment. That is an important part of our kaupapa.

David was blind. He was born with congenital glaucoma. While he was deemed “legally blind” as a child, he still had partial vision in one eye. When David was eight years old, he boarded at the Homai School. Homai School (now BLENNZ)is a residential school for low vision, blind and deaf blind children.

He was learning how to read, using books with large text, until the age of 13 when he had an accident at the school. When David tells the story of the accident it’s hard not to be astonished at irony of it and how it happened at a school for the blind.

Being one of 27 junior boys at the boarding school, with only six showers the boys would always race to be the first (I guess this was to get a hot shower versus a cold one). There were metal pegs on the side of the wall where you could hang your personal items. On this occasion David did win the race, but when he enthusiastically bent down one of the metal hooks jabbed into his left eye, his good eye. It caused irreversible damage to his optic nerve.

This twist of fate sounds diabolical, but David was philosophical about his blindness. At the time he struggled emotionally but found strength and comfort when he discovered Christianity. He realised he was in the same position as the rest of the blind students and that he would need to learn new mobility skills using a cane and braille.
David lived in Tai Tokerau for the past 32 years. What he really enjoyed was getting involved locally in the community at a governance level. He liked the mental stimulation. In this capacity, he felt he was not only accepted as part of the community but valued. He once said to me “to be valued you have to contribute, and you have to earn it. If you want people to value you, you need to be seen out there dealing with all issues the good, bad and ugly. It’s about having that visibility in the community.”

At the end of the day David Senior will be remembered as a valued member of his community, who contributed hugely. One of David’s habits when summarising a range of viewpoints, was to preface his comments with the line “at the end of the day…”, reminding us of our shared purpose. Certainly, for us at Tiaho Trust, at the end of the day, David leaves a legacy of good common sense and ethical leadership which will be remembered. Go well.

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.

A Different Light – 9th August 2025 – Accessible events make all the difference

The notion of a Mid-Winter Christmas dinner is something of an oxymoron. Winter and Christmas are kind of opposite for us in the southern hemisphere. Maybe the tradition was started by Poms, missing a white snow-laden Christmas in the motherland. Whatever the reason, organisations seem to like the idea of having a good nosh up and pulling a Christmas cracker in the colder months. My wife and I were lucky enough to get invited to the Whangarei Accessible Housing Trust the Mid-Winter Christmas work dinner the other week. It was at the Flames Hotel, so we decided to book a room as it is a fair hike from Waipu to Onerahi.

We asked for an accessible room, but apparently the accessible rooms were flooded out a week ago in the heavy rain, so we were given a room, which to access meant me traveling up and down a flight of nine stairs.  Their usual accessible rooms are brilliant, with easy access to the facilities  and a great view, but, although the fault of the weather, not the hotel,  this wasn’t a good start accessibility wise.

The actual dinner, however, was a different story. The Whangarei Accessible Housing Trust and Tiaho Trust are fairly unique in New Zealand, in that we are both disabled-led organisations. This meant that, for this event, disabled people were the majority at the dinner, instead of being the usual minority. The Whangarei Accessible Housing Trust had organised the dinner with that in mind. Instead of having the usual buffet style Xmas dinner, where guests have to tromp up to the banquet tables, to grab a plate and serve themselves, serving dishes of food were brought to individual tables. Similarly, waiters and waitresses took drink orders with mobile eftpos machines. My wife was impressed by this. For years now she has had to endure countless buffets and not only getting her own food but mine as well. She has had to go back to the buffet table to get me seconds and thirds, feeling self-conscious, as she was sure people were watching her accusingly, thinking “how greedy”. The buffet breakfast at the Waitangi Copthorne resort is a buffet she particularly doesn’t look forward to. Having to order multiple poached eggs on my behalf, or standing at the dreaded conveyor like toast maker endlessly appear to rile her. I’m sorry, but I’m in the firm belief that breakfast without toast just isn’t breakfast.

The only buffet which has surpassed the Whangarei Accessible Housing Trust mid-winter Xmas dinner were the buffets we encountered on a cruise ship. Here, I could saunter up to the buffet table on my mobility scooter and a cruise ship staff member would appear out of nowhere asking “Can I help you sir?” This delighted my wife who was used to having to use her old waitressing skills and carry two plates in one hand while serving into them. It’s well known that cruise ships provide excellent customer services to disabled people. They are also exceptionally accessible. The cruise ship industry provides this offering out of an economic imperative. They know that the older traveller has 50% higher chance of having a disability of one kind or another. They also know that the older traveller has the most disposable income of any other global market segment. It’s a business strategy that tourism operators in Northland could well take note of.

Yesterday we held our fabulous “Getting Out There” EXPO at Forum North, with the theme “Accessible Horizons – Experience Inclusion”. In the build up to the EXPO we conducted a survey on inclusiveness and accessibility in Northland. Respondents of the survey were able to identify who were the most inclusive and accessible tourist locations, community spaces and businesses. So a drum roll please…. for the winners who were….tourism location category: Huarahi o te Whai Hatea loop; Community Spaces category: Whangarei Library and Business catergory: Mitre 10 Whangarei. The Inclusive Innovation Award went to Flip Whangarei. Kudos to all these winners who have gone the extra mile to ensure we can all access their offerings- and who knows, maybe Flames will have their fabulous accessible rooms up and running again , to be in contention next year. Until then, festive wishes to all!

Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.