Limited mobility, limitless adventure

Paul and Carol embark on an epic accessible vacation through Australia

By Audley Travel

November 5^th, 2019

In October 2018, Paul and Carol traveled to Australia with Audley. Carol has a muscular disease that is slowly taking away her mobility, and she requires the use of a scooter when they travel. Here they tell us more about their experience by recognizing Audley and their specialist in designing this incredible trip. As Paul wrote,

"Traveling with disabilities is not the easiest thing in the world, but one of the hardest things is to find a company that will work with and accommodate disabilities. There is very little information you can find on the web that is specific to disabilities."

"It's rare for us to find true service for the disabled. I cannot express the relief I felt in this process knowing I could reach out to Audley at any time."

Paul and Carol pose in front of the Bondi Beach 'Sculpture by the Sea' open-air art exhibition

“Mister and Mrs. Schnaubelt?” “Ga-day, my name is John and I’m your driver are you ready to see Sydney?” With that, our adventure in Australia began. A disabled specific, custom-designed Audley tour arranged by our country specialist. Traveling with a disability is not easy, it can be challenging even to find a booking agent who will work to ensure the accessibility necessary for a person with disabilities."

"Audley surpassed expectations and insured an adventure that a disabled person could fully experience and an able-bodied person could thoroughly enjoy."

'Sculpture by the Sea' exhibition at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Carol poses at a vineyard in the Barrosa wine valley

"Audley ensured that every tour provider and transfer service was aware of Carol’s disability and the dimensions of her scooter. On our tours, the guides kept us on paths that were easily accessible.

Sydney is a vibrant city that will remind you of New York. Our driver customized our first city tour based upon our interests and ensured that every stop was easily accessible for Carol and her scooter.

Uluru, (Ayers Rock), was our next destination. I’m not sure many disabled people travel to this location, and because of this you do not get the general awareness of individuals with disabilities that you experience at most resorts. The resort, regardless of which hotel you are booked into, has a wheelchair van available. There is no charge for this service, and they are very cautious about ensuring that only the disabled access this, so it is readily available."

"From there we went out to the Great Barrier Reef. Port Douglas is a beautiful little beach town that feels like California in the 60s. Although there are no sidewalks until you get to the thoroughfare, the sleepiness of this town means you can travel down streets with your scooter or chair unaffected by traffic. Our specialist booked us an experience that had an accessible boat and an island dock in the Great Barrier Reef with a pool lift to put a disabled person into the ocean. The lift put Carol in the water, and she was able to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef for hours.

Adelaide and the Barrosa Valley was next on our tour. Once again, Audley booked us into a very accessible hotel, the Majestic Roof Garden. We booked a private tour of the Barrosa wine valley and I can’t say enough about the insider’s look and accessibility to this area. We were able to purchase and sample many wines that are not generally available to the public. Virtually every place we visited was not only accessible, the vineyard owners were accommodating and gracious as well."

Scenery from the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney

"One doesn’t carry an umbrella hoping it rains, one carries an umbrella in case it rains. Audley is the best umbrella you can have with you."

"We had booked a car to drive down the Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately, a couple of hours out of Adelaide I let my attention lapse, we went off the road, and hit a tree head-on. The car was totaled. We were taken to a rural hospital, and Carol was air-lifted back to the Medical Center. This is where Audley was truly amazing. I called them immediately, and they put me in touch with the on-call manager who immediately began to cancel portions of the trip we would not be able to utilize and booked us back into a hotel in Adelaide where we could rest and recover. Within a day, new travel arrangements had been made, including flights. Throughout this process both my specialist, the Australia ground team, and the on-call manager did everything possible to get us back on track and checked in with us every day to make sure we were well and healing.

We moved on to Melbourne and finished our trip there as planned. As a result of the accident and our injuries, we could no longer climb in and out of vans. Audley contacted our final tour providers and transfer services and insured that we would only be met with sedans."

The sun lights up the landscape in Uluru

"Traveling with disabilities is a challenge. We want to do and see everything, but little things can stop us cold. Booking with Audley for this Australian adventure was one of the best decisions we have ever made because every part of this trip was flawless. Not only did our specialist ensure the tours and lodging could meet our needs, but all of Audley’s vendors had been contacted in advance for Carol’s specific disability as well as the dimensions and measurements of her scooter for transport."