Novotel on Collins

270 Collins Street

Melbourne

VIC

Australia 3000

http://www.novotelmelbourne.com.au/

These notes are intended to provide guidance for wheelchair users considering this hotel. If you are looking for comments on the hotel experience see tripadvisor. The conclusion: a well located hotel with excellent wheelchair facilities, recommended. 

The hotel is located about midway on Collins street so is right in the bustling center of Melbourne. We were able to explore the city on foot (or wheel) from here. The hotel is surrounded by shopping malls and many tiny alleys with interesting cafes for breakfast lunch or dinner. Many cafes are not accessible, but have outside tables. 

There is a ramp from the street to the ground level concierge station.  A lift (elevator) from here goes up one floor to the reception area. On this level there is a bar and restaurant, all of which are fully accessible.  There is an accessible toilet off the bar area but it is a bit cramped and may not work for all chairs. Another toilet past reception and the lifts, near the meeting rooms, offers a better option. 

The wheelchair accessible room I booked was a Queen bed with a pull out sofa bed. I initially intended to use this for the kids but since a third adult joined our group we ended up taking two rooms - the accessible and an adjoining superior room (non-accessible).  The room was very large, one of the largest I have stayed in, and there would have been plenty of circulation space even if we had used the pull out sofa.  As it was, moving around the room was no problem. 

The room was located fairly close to the lift (elevator) down a carpeted corridor. The work desk was very large and easy to use with electric sockets easily accessible above the desk.  The mini bar and accoutrements were accessible and the TV remote control was in easy reach. The a/c controls were easily reached. The closet was easy to get to and the hang rail was a normal walkie height. A light switch by the bed controlled this main room lights, but not the desk light and floor mounted lamp so you had to remember to turn those off before getting into bed.  (A master switch by the door turned everything off - a pity there wasn't one by the bed). The bed was about 20" (50cm) high and easy to transfer in and out of. 

The bathroom was very large with plenty of circulation space. There was a shower with a large, wall mounted, fold down seat and a completely separate bathtub.  The shower rose was a hand-held unit mounted on a vertical rail. It was possible to reach the top of the rail while sitting on the seat. The controls were easy to reach and there were well positioned handrails. The bath had no shower rose attachment and was a standard height. 

The toilet had plenty of space around it and was suitable for a right-handed 0 to 180 degree transfer. There were well positioned grab rails. The sink had good knee space and was easy to manage. The mirror was tilted and provided excellent visibility. 

All in all I found the hotel very well suited for wheelchair and handicapped accommodation and would use it again. The staff was very friendly and helpful.  Recommended. 

Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver

These notes are intended to guide wheelchair users interested in snorkeling on the GBR.  They reflect my personal experience only and represent just one day - do your research if you plan to try this experience, and if you a in north east Australia you really really must try this experience! It's worth pushing yourself out of your comfort zone for.

After doing a little online research and exchanging emails with a few people I felt that Quicksilver (http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/) gave me the most confidence in their familiarity with and ability to accommodate wheelchairs so we went with them. I travelled with my wife and two very young children (6 and 7 years old) and three adult friends. I am a T4 complete paraplegic, with a rigid light manual chair. I can swim but I had no previous experience of snorkeling.

Quicksilver offer a range of reef trips, but the one you need to take is to go to the Agincourt reef platform as this is the only one with good wheelchair access. The boats to the reef depart from Port Douglas and they have two large boats with wheelchair access. Embarkation from the port was easy, a member of staff helped push me up the fairly gently sloping gangway.  There was a steep sloped ledge at the end. On board there was a table (conveniently located near the bar!) reserved for wheelchair access, with the seats removed on one side of it. A bench seat beside the table offered the opportunity to get out of your chair if you prefer although it faces away from the windows and view.  The staff were very attentive and reassured me greatly as I tried not to show my nerves. There is an accessible toilet although you have to negotiate a lip from the salon to get outside. The staff offered a ramp to assist with this but I was able to just "curb hop" it. 

Upon arrival at the platform after about 90 minutes journey, you disembark onto the platform itself.  Access to the lounge and main platform is via three very steep ramps.  You will need assistance going up and down - I don't think anyone could manually push themselves up them unless they are extremely athletic.

The staff provide masks, snorkels and buoyancy jackets.  Although I can swim I decided to take a buoyancy jacket for stability and I am very glad I did. On this experience you really need to great yourself into as comfortable a position as possible so thAt you can focus on the wonderful marine sights. There isn't much point in getting fins if you can't move your legs. I would recommend swim shoes though just to provide protection for your feet. I didn't have any but would have had greater peace of mind if I had.

Once the main rush of people getting into the water had abated, and I had applied sun screen etc. I told the staff I was ready. They really want to see you go in with a buddy. Since my wife was fully preoccupied in the water with  the kids I was very glad to have an adult friend (and experienced snorkeller) with me. 

The platform has a chair lift. You perform a 70 or 90 degree transfer from your wheelchair onto the chair lift. Staff will assist you a little but are not trained to perform lifting and so on so if you need that level of assistance you need to bring some helpers with you. Once on the chair lift, they strap you in and lower you very slowly into the water - about a meter below. Once in the water they pull you to the swim platform where you an finalize your preparation, affix your mask and snorkel and prepare for something wonderful.

Once you slide into the water there are lines with bouys that you can use to provide both stability and confidence. I stayed very close to these for the first ten minutes but once I got confidence I let go and was able to drift and swim with the fishes.

I found it was very easy to get into a horizontal "viewing position" face down in the water simply by moving my head forwards. Getting back up into a vertical position where I could remove the snorkel and breathe normally was a bit more problematic. I achieved it by flapping my arms wildly to try to raise my torso out of the water. Initially several people thought I was drowning so I had to work on my technique to look more like an intentional move and less like a scrabbling kitten.

I stayed in the water for about 45 minutes (you can get up to 3 hours or so in the water if you are prepared to skip lunch) until I began to get quite cold (it was July - mid-winter). During that time I views an astonishing vista of incredibly beautiful fish and coral, up close and far away. At points I was just a few feet from the coral and at other points fish came right up and stared into my mask. What a truly remarkable experience, and it is imperative that we take every measure necessary to protect and enlarge the GBR to preserve it for our own and future generations.

There are no accessible changing rooms - I just put on a dry shirt and stayed in my wet swimming trunks and sat in the sun until they dried out.

The platform has other viewing opportunities such as a semi-submersible boat and observation platforms below the sea level. However none of these are accessible unless you can walk down a few steps. I was completely satisfied with the snorkeling experience so did not miss these at all.

The platform also offers diving but unless you are experienced or really determined to dive I think the experience you get snorkeling is as good as it gets. The variety of life and the colors are greatest near the water's surface.

The return to shore was uneventful with easy boarding once you got up the three ferociously steep ramps on the platform.

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef is one of those things I thought would never be part of my experience once an accident put me in a wheelchair for life. Well, I was wrong and if time and money allow it, you should try it. Disability is the last excuse you should use!