Trip to the gold coast in Queensland from the 14 th until the 21 st of October 2009

1. Trip to the gold coast in Queensland from the 14th until the 21st of October 2009 This presentation is to demonstrate how easy it is to have a holiday on the Gold Coast in Queensland, if you are a family with a person with a disability. This presentation will also show people who are elderly how easy it is for them to have a holiday on the Gold Coast in Queensland. This presentation has been designed by Matthew Hennig, Owner / Director, Flying Wheelies.

2. Contents Page • Travel by Country Link • Special Equipment • Sovereign Hotel • Transport • Theme Parks and Attractions • Conclusion

3. Travelling to Queensland by country link how easy it was too travel with country link Important information for people with disabilities and the elderly and the carer is when they are considering travelling with Countrylink next time they travel. The ease and convenience of travelling with Countrylink If you need to travel in a wheelchair all Countrylink trains have spaces for wheelchairs. The disabled carriages are C and D, and these carriages also have disabled toilets. When you book on Countrylink service you need to inform them that you will be travelling in your wheelchairchair while you are on the Countrylink service. There are a some cases where a carer accompanying the person with a disability can travel for free. If the person with a disability holds some kind of concession card they will travel on Countrylink for free, and will only have to pay a fee each time they cross a border within Australia. If your chair can be dismantled or folded up Countrylink may decide to put the wheelchair in the luggage compartment of the train. There is a Manual wheelchair on board the train if you need a chair to get to the rest room while on board the train. Please note your wheelchair has to fit within certain specifications for you to be able to board the train In your wheelchair. Also Countrylink has wheelchair accessible coaches if you need to travel by road to meet Countrylink trains, also advise Countrylink that you need to stay in your wheelchair while travelling on the coaches

4. Needing special equipment while you’re away well here is the answer. You can hire Shower chairs, Electric hoist , Hospital beds And much much More To make your holiday as enjoyable as possible . You can even organise a carer to come into the hotel to get the person with a disability out of bed in the morning, and put into bed at night, just like you do at home. So it can be a real holiday for everbody who is going, mum and dad can have a break to. Even if the person with a disability wanted to go away without the parents or carer, they could get the equipment and support they need while they are away without too much hassle. To arrange for equipment please contact Flying Wheelies.

5. Sovereign hotel on the gold coast in Queensland The Sovereign wheelchair accessible room was absolutely amazing. When you opened the door to the apartment, you were looking at this big open floor plan, with plenty of room to manouvre even in an electric wheelchair. The bath room was also an open floor plan. You could fit the commode chair ,the carer, the electric wheelchair and the hoist all in the bathroom at the same time and still have room to move around. The bedroom had a queen bed in the middle of the room but there was still enough room to get the wheelchair on either side of the bed. A Carer could fit up the side of the bed with ease. The main living area in the apartment had a sofa bed that could be folded out so somebody could sleep on it, and in one of the corners of the apartment there was a single bed also that someone could sleep on very comfortably. There was a table that everybody could sit around and still have plenty of space for the wheelchair. The hotel had ramps in all major areas of the hotel so the person in the wheelchair could use all areas of the hotel. There is only one downside to this hotel even though a person in a wheelchair could access the pool area there was no hoist in the pool area to allow the person in the wheelchair into the pool for a swim. These are just some of the photos of the apartment, there is also a video to watch.

6. Transport on the Gold Coast is really fantastic When you call for a disabled taxi nine times out of 10 you will not be waiting very long a for taxi, and if you hold half price vouchers for taxis in your state you can apply for interstate half price taxi vouchers before you leave, and the interstate vouchers will work exactly like they do in your home state. 95% of the busses that run to the Theme Parks are wheelchair friendly, and you get the same benefits that you are entitled to, depending on what concession card you are holding. Even the train system in Queensland is wheelchair friendly. In some cases you don’t even need a ramp, to board the train, the gap is so small. Even better, some of the newer trains on the train system have disabled bathroom’s on board. They even have seats on board the train that fold up, so the wheelchair can park out of the way of the doorways. If you are not a person who likes using public transport, you can also rent a disabled vehicle whilst you are on the Gold Coast through Flashcabs, who cater for even the largest electric wheelchair. Flashcabs also have a website for the sale of 2nd hand disabled vehicles.

7. Theme Parks and attractions One show you must go and see on the gold coast is the Australian outback spectacular. This is one show the whole family can enjoy even if you are confined to a wheelchair. The person in the wheelchair gets front row seats, and the rest of the family sit next to the person in the wheelchair or behind them if necessary there are no concessions available for the show but that doesn’t really matter, because you have a great night with family and you get a three course meal while you are watching the show. The venue has excellent wheelchair access, excellent disabled toilets, easy to access and if you have a group booking they will let you through the side doors of the venue. Sea world is an excellent theme park for the whole family. If you are a person with a disability and you want to watch shows that are running at Sea World, you and your party get provided the front seats, so you can see what’s happening. Movie world is not well suited for people with disabilities as 80% of the park is rides. There are some shows that a person with a disability can watch. Dreamworld is fantastic for the entire family. There is even a train that will take you around the theme park and the last carriage is wheelchair friendly. All carers going into the Theme Parks will either get a discount to enter the park all depending on what concession card the person with a disability is holding, they may even let carers in for free, depending on the circumstances. If you go to the customer service building when you arrive at any of the Theme Parks they will interview the person with a disability or their carer, to work out which rides would be suitable for the person with a disability.

8. Thank you for watching this presentation There is a lot more Flying Wheelies can add to this presentation to make your holiday fun and enjoyable. Please speak to the Managing Director of Flying Wheelies to organize this specialized holiday package for the elderly, people with a disability, family and friends as well as carers.