Wheelie Traveller Vanessa Waller has discovered a property that sets an accessibility benchmark.
I am in love! Her name is ‘Bimbadeen’ and she is a wheelchair-accessible property in Merimbula on New South Wales’ Sapphire Coast.
Bimbadeen is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘beautiful views’. And, for the first time, I was not forced to choose between a nice view and accessible accommodation.
It is a two-bedroom, self-contained apartment complete with kitchen, living room, laundry and bathroom, all fully wheelchair-accessible.
Unlike many so-called wheelchair-friendly accommodations, there are no slap-dash modifications here; the apartment was designed by Australia’s leading disability access architect, Harry Sprintz, and built with unerring attention to detail: durable, easy-to-clean bamboo flooring, textured paint and strong walls that can cope with additional bumps from wheelchairs.
On arrival, we were greeted by the owner, Alex Cochran, who showed us around and provided us with all manner of local knowledge.
First order of the day for my family is to choose our beds for the night. The first bedroom has two single beds, one of which is a hospital-type bed with a hoist. My husband and son decided to claim that as the boys’ room, leaving me with the luxurious solitude of the queen bed and a lovely view of the garden and lake.
The fully equipped kitchen and laundry (complete with extra toilet and basin) have quality appliances fitted at heights suitable for easy access – not that I had any intention of doing laundry while on holiday.
The bathroom is an absolute joy for wheelies, with slip-resistant vinyl flooring, stainless-steel grab rails and bars, soap dispensers, heated ladder towels, a huge shower with a gutter drain and even a portable shower/commode chair.
Everything about Bimbadeen is smart, including the apartment’s lighting system; from the bed, I could reach a control panel that allowed me to activate the bedroom, patio, bathroom and reading lights and even turn them all off at once by pressing the ‘goodnight’ button.
My husband and son headed out for a visit to Magic Mountain, just a short drive away. While not as large as some similar fun parks, there were enough rides and slides to keep them both amused for a few hours, with very few queues.
Bimbadeen is in a quiet, suburban street but on the flip side, you will need a vehicle to drive the short distance down the hill into town – unless you are a wheelie with some serious upper body and arm strength (and a daredevil attitude) there really is no option. Fortunately the driveway is level and wide so loading and unloading a wheelchair is no problem.
We tried a number of Alex’s suggestions for eating out and were extremely happy with his recommendations, particularly the Waterfront Café, open for breakfast, lunch and, seasonally, for dinner. We are all book lovers and my husband enjoys good coffee so Booktique, which combines both, became another favourite.
I was able to get my wheelchair into most places around town that I wanted to look at. Merimbula’s main street is quite level at one end and then rises up the hill, which is no problem for a motorised wheelchair or a manual wheelchair with a carer to push, but could be a little challenging if you are self-propelled.
My husband and son had fun at Bar Beach, a few minutes’ drive from town, where they body surfed on the outgoing tide, followed by snacks and drinks at the popular Bar Beach Kiosk. The owners aim to provide coffee and food that would be at home in a lane-way cafe in Melbourne.
Despite some overcast weather, we were all able to enjoy the Merimbula Boardwalk, which runs for 3.4 kilometres beside the lake and provides signs about the local marine life and vegetation. The slatted timbers of the boardwalk were fine for my wheelchair, but again, we needed the car to make it to the start of the walk.
After waking to the delightful calls of the bellbirds each morning, then getting ready in comfort and ease before heading out each day, Bimbadeen instantly jumped to the top of my list of favourite places to stay.
It will be the standard by which I judge all future properties and should be viewed by the entire travel sector as a shining example of what accessible accommodation is truly all about.
This looks a great place to stay and visit. thank you for the great review.
What a wonderful review written by someone who lives life to the full regardless of her limitations. This article serves to inspire not only others who may be in need of wheelchair access accommodation but owners of establishments to address their own often dismally lacking ‘accessible’ rooms or suites.
Hi Ness,
I have an older friend who now appears to be confined to a whellchair in a nursing home. i’ll be recommending the family look at your website for reviews of accommodation when they start thinking about giving her some time out.
Great review thanks,
Janice
I am grateful for Vanessa’s generous comments regarding my access design work & I am also grateful to have had the pleasure of designing both the accessible holiday accommodation & the new private residence I designed for Alex Cochrane & his wife Desiree.
The success of this project was largely due to the open & generous sharing of views, opinions & requirements at the arliest stages of the project thus creating a ‘team’ approach, which over the past 50+ years of my area of architectural specialisation in ‘access’ projects has been the central point that guides the ‘team’ to a successful outcome, as in this case.
HARRY,
HARRY SPRINTZ OAM FRAIA LDFDIA MACAA MA Design/Research for Disability (London Guildhall Univ)
Dear Vanessa
I am so pleased to have discovered your insightful Posts and thank you for them. My brother and sister-in-law live in England and my sister-in-law is a high level paraplegic. They are not able to come to Australia frequently but when they do, the family here wants to give them the very best of holidays. We have a small non-accessible two-story weekender in Bewong and last time they came (7 years ago) we booked them into the Anchor Bay Motel at Greenwell Point as a home base for spending time with us on the beautiful south coast. That was a serious downer for them and us. We expect they will come again next May (2015) for another brother’s 80th birthday. Searching the web for suitable accessible accommodation for people with disabilities, I am angry and dismayed that not much has changed in the past 7 years – Google searches lead me to (and pushes) many links to an alternative – “pet-friendly” accommodation. Have you found any really nice quality accommodation akin to Bimbadeen in the St George’s Basin/ Jervis Bay area that provides truly accessible accommodation.
Many thanks
Kaye