Fremantle, All at Sea and Pirates

Sea Princess at Fremantle

Due to the storm which swept across the south west corner of Western Australia last week, we docked in Fremantle a day late.

Having been here several times before, we didn’t book any excursions, but planned to just wander the city, shop and take photos.  We did find Fremantle somewhat shabbier than during our earlier visits. Many closed down shops for instance.

The city centre was less than 10 minute walk from where the ship docked, and as there was no rain (a bit cool and breezy, though), we set off with a map and lots of energy.

We found the Woolstore Shopping Mall which included a Coles and made a few purchases.

Then, of course, Margaret needed a coffee. So John was allowed (??  says Margaret) to leave her to it and go and see what he could photograph.

The only problem was that John had all the cash and the café would not accept Margaret’s Visa card.

This major disaster was averted by Margaret borrowing $20 from some fellow passengers we had met and who were at an adjoining table – see, it pays to make friends.

John returned with some pics of some of the old buildings, and we set off to find the library to avail ourselves of the free Wi-Fi. (usually the port terminal has good free Wi-Fi, but we couldn’t it get to work in Fremantle).

After posting our blog and catching up on emails and Facebook, we headed off to wander some more and then make our way back to the ship.

And that, of course, was when it decided to rain. John left Margaret to her own devices and made a dash for it. So we got a bit wet but also safely back on board.

Margaret being Margaret, she asked the Entertainment team to schedule a Common interest meeting for guests interested in family history/genealogy.  The meet-up was advertised for last Friday 27^th at 11am in the Whisky Nook – and guess what? Thirty people turned up.

We swapped yarns about our families and our research methods, and after our allotted hour was up agreed to meet again.  There were quite a few Kiwis with Maori and “fencible” ancestors, as well as Aussies with the usual variations – English, Irish, Aboriginal, convicts, Germans.

Since then we have had many interesting chats with those who were present about family history, including with a chap who is in charge of Auckland Library and who many tips about NZ sources.

Some of these may help with John’s quest to find his maternal g-g-uncle, George Fitzpatrick in Feilding (North Island), and some trace of Clara Ann Riddell and her supposed husband Alexander Wilson and of course, Alfred Moxon (John’s paternal great uncle), whom she had taken to NZ and raised as her son.

Yesterday, Tuesday 31 May, we had “Pirate attack training”. Really, we did.

We are now in the area where pirates attack any vessel they can to take hostages or simply loot for money. If the alarm sound, we are all to go into the corridor and sit or lie on the floor.

Until further notice, all outside areas are out of bounds during the hours of darkness.

Crossing the Equator

Also yesterday, we had the “King Neptune” ceremony to celebrate crossing the equator.

Selected passengers were put on trial, found guilty, and punished by being doused in slops of god knows what.

All good fun, if a tad childish.

Even had one guy dressed up as Johnny Depp – but no sign of Pistol and Boo.

Dubai on Sat 4 June, where we have two tours booked.

Sea Princess Wheelchair Accessibility

Some of our friends want more information about the wheelchair access on board and in particular, access within our cabin.  

So, here we go.

Our cabin in on Level 8 (there are 9 levels (5 to 14 – no level 13) accessible to passengers by lift plus one by stairs only (level 15).

Our cabin has no balcony, and is described as “restricted view” which means that a life boat is right outside the window and obscures most of the view – when seated only sky is visible above the boat, when standing or with the wheelchair fully raised, a sliver of ocean is visible. But you do know when it’s night or day - unlike in the cheaper “inside” cabins, as we had on The Queen Victoria.

We believe that there is only one accessible cabin with an unrestricted window view.

The entry door is 820mm wide, but is heavy to open – John can just manage to open it from the inside, and has finally managed to  open it from the corridor using the key-card.

The corridors are a bit narrow at 1420mm at the door and a bit less elsewhere – no way two wheelchairs can pass, but wide enough for a walking person and wheelie to pass with care, or for a wheelie to pass the housekeeping trolley.

The cabin itself has twin single beds which are bolted to the floor. They are a bit narrow for John – dressing himself is a bit of a struggle - and they are definitely too narrow for comfortable cuddling (and that’s all we’ll say on that subject).

There is space under the beds for storing cases or for hoist access, The gap is 330mm.

The beds are 870mm wide by 1900mm long.

Cabin D329

The distance between the beds is 1750mm

The height of the beds (floor to top of mattress) is 580mm and they offer an extra mattress to raise the height. But the mattress is quite soft and that makes it a bit of a struggle for John to transfer from bed to Chair.

Clearance under dressing table is 660mm with width of opening is 640mm wide, and under breakfast table is 740mm by 860mm wide. Breakfast table is 80mm (making top of table 820mm from floor.

Bathroom entrance  - velcro underneath worn out

The bathroom has an outward opening door 530mm wide, but there is a 25mm step into the bathroom with a moveable ramp that itself has a 10mm step. The ramp is also constantly being pushed away from the step be John’s chair’s casters – a bit of Velcro would fix that.

Shows John's fold up portable shower chair

The bathroom itself is quite okay for us.

There is no hob into the shower.

Note shower hose - attaches too low - gets tangled up with feet

The shower hose is a bit long and fairly stiff so it keeps getting caught on John’s footplates. There controls are odd. One to turn the water on, one to adjust the temperature. John cannot reach either, nor can he turn the knobs if he could reach them, and not could he see the temperature indicator, in any case. Not that it matters as the hottest you can get is only lukewarm.

  

The wash basin has 620mm clearance under. Shelf space is just adequate.

The loo seat is 460mm above floor height, with the flush button fairly light and as shown.

Port Adelaide and Largs Bay - meeting treasured friends

The ship docked at Adelaide’s Outer Harbour, some 35 km from the city.

We decided to not venture into the city as we have been there often, and instead to explore Port Adelaide and do some shopping to buy all those little things that we forgot or incorrectly assumed would be provided on board.

Our ship in Port Adelaide

For the record, Port Adelaide is home to three museums: a railway one, an aircraft one 

and a maritime one. All good, reportedly, but we had to miss them due to lack of time.

Port Adelaide is also quite close to Largs Bay where our good friends, Sheila and Maurice Corcoran live in their new house.

Port Adelaide Railway station

The Outer Harbour train station was very close to the ship and there were nearly as many guides as passengers, so getting to and onto the platform was a breeze.

In Adelaide, the train driver has the responsibility for assisting passengers with disabilities to board and each train has a ramp on board.

There were about three of four wheelchair spaces in the front carriage, not quite enough for the four or five or us wheelies from the ship, plus a few with limited mobility. But we all got on board, even if it was a bit squashy and John had to sit in the lobby, rather than a wheelchair space.

Port Adelaide ramp

Port Adelaide is about six or so stops from Outer Harbour and the station is way above ground and access up and down to street level is by the longest ramps we’ve ever seen. No problem for John, but Margaret found it a bit of a chore - it really does need a lift.

(PHOTO of station ramp)

Buildings which survived redevelopment in 60s

Port Adelaide was clearly an early settlement with lots of beautiful old buildings – but, now, of course, also lots of modern ones.

Interesting artwork in Port Adelaide

Shopping done, a visit to our bank to officially advise them of our itinerary so our card would not be blocked, a card posted, and arrangements made to meet Maurice near Largs Bay hotel and we set off to catch the train back to Largs.

While waiting for the train we meet a delightful young woman with cerebral palsy who is part way through her TAFE studies to become a teacher’s aide, specialising in supporting children with disabilities. To date, she has not been involved in disability networks or advocacy, so John suggested she contact Margie Charlesworth and Glenda Lee  on Facebook. We hope she does.

The train driver, as with the one on the way out, was very friendly, efficient and obliging, both with boarding and alighting.

And so to Largs Bay past gorgeous bluestone houses, where Maurice and his daughter, Martha, were waiting to meet us and guide us to the house – just a few minutes down the road.

Martha, Tilly, Sheila, Alesia and Margaret at back; Maurice Corcoran and John

We had a lovely afternoon in Sheila and Maurice’s new house – two storeys with a lift to the top floor – large open-plan living area/kitchen, and, of course, fully accessible.

Also sharing lunch with us were Sophie and Martha and Matha’s two beautiful daughters, Tilly (7) and Alesia (3).

A lovely afternoon reminiscing about the early days of disability advocacy (Maurice and I first met in Sydney in the early 1990s when I attended a seminar he ran about accessible public transport – later we were both inaugural members of the Physical Disability Council of Australia which we formed in 1996) – Maurice was the main advocate for accessible transport in Australia and it was his win for accessible buses in Adelaide that got the whole accessible transport movement really rolling along. Others were also involved, but we wheelies in Oz have a lot to thank Maurice for.

Two politicians'' irritants - John and Maurise

Maurice drove us back to the ship – about a 10 minute drive in his new VW van which Maurice drives from his wheelchair.

Back on board, we learned that we are heading int storm conditions and will need to take shelter in Esperence Bay while we wait for the worst of the storm to pass before heading for Fremantle where we will arrive 24 yours late. This means that our scheduled stop in Colombo, Sri Lanks, will be missed and we will head straight to Dubai – 11 days at sea

Day 3 - Marvellous Melbourne

On getting a phone connection in Melbourne, we got the terribly sad news that one of our most stalwart volunteers at Parramatta Computer Pals for Seniors, and our very good friend, Michael Myers, had died suddenly the night before. We are quite shocked, saddened, and now even more mindful of our own mortality.

RIP, Michael, you’ll be sorely missed. And our condolences and love to his wife, Noelene, and their children, whose grief we can only guess at.

******

Princess Cruises had organised for whoever runs Melbourne’s buses to run a shuttle from the terminal to the city, so after waiting for the “next” bus, (the first one already had two wheelchair passengers on board), we ventured into the city.

We have, of course, been to Melbourne before, but not for many years, and never to just “explore” so this was a chance to discover the Melbourne we didn’t know.

The bus dropped us south of the river, so we crossed via the Princes Bridge,

Princess Bridge

to

Federation Square

Federation Square, our first stop. 

The Square is across from Flinders Street railway station, and has a large tourist information centre where we had the choice of several self-guided walking tours and we chose “Arcades and Lanes”.

But first we explored Federation Square itself and immediately discovered why many wheelies have criticised it – all cobbles, all on a slope (so it can be used as an amphitheatre, we are told), lots of stairs, and the ramps, as usual, take the long way round.

Nevertheless, the architecture is stunning, if not to everyone’s taste.

Here is a map of the Arcade and Lanes route – it’s about 4km with no less than 31points of interest along the way.

It certainly worth doing – but be warned if you use a wheelchair – there is a set of stairs between Centre Place and Centre Way, and you need to back up and go around.

we had to find another route

 

There are also some cobble stones  

And many of the lanes are crowded and narrow. 

A restored arcade

Street art abounds 

And also artworks.

Here’s John being patted on the head – which he loves. 

Margaret had a coffee and lunch in the Galleria  but not pizza, on this occasion. 

We caught the wheelchair accessible tram back to near the cruise terminal.

 All very easy – just wheel on and wheel off.

Westgate Bridge in the late afternoon

A quick trip to the IGA and back on board.

A beaut day.

Next port is Adelaide on Thursday (day 5).

Day 1 - Our cruise begins

Our cruise begins

Not really day one – that was about a year ago when we started to plan this trip, but it is day one of the actual trip.

John’s son, Bruce, arrived bright and early and helped us pack the gear into the van, then came with us to the White Bay Cruise Terminal for our boarding time of 1.00pm. Bruce has also agreed to supervise some work on the van and to keep an eye on our place while we are away. Good lad, our Bruce.

Flawless boarding took about 20 minutes, and our “restricted view” stateroom lives up to its name – a nicely restricted view of a life boat, plus a thin strip of sky.

The cabin itself is liveable – two single beds (no option), plenty of wheelchair circulation space, and a bathroom that will be just fine for John.

Opera House and Bridgeday 1 - Our

The trip down the harbour was beautiful – we are so lucky to live in a city with such a harbour as ours – with a spectacular autumn sunset to boot.

Already we have made friends with another wheelie – Mal and his wife Lesley from Melbourne - and six others at dinner. But, unfortunately, our allocated table is really hard for John to get to due to the tables being close together, that we have asked for and been given a more accessible table.

We had a restless first night – John was cold, Margaret didn’t sleep all that well. And, of course now we’ve found the air con control and it was set to coldest. Oh well.

Through the Heads

Some folks want travel tips, so here’s a few we’ve learnt so far:

• ·        Bring power boards (at least one) and an extension cable.  In this cabin we have one Aussie power outlet, one UKK one and several USA (110v) ones.
• ·        Make sure you have adapter plugs for all the places you’re going – there’s a website where you can check.
• Check the power rating of things like wheelchair battery chargers (we were caught out in New York on our last trip when the 110 to 240v inverter did not work; luckily we found a mobility store just a couple of blocks away which was open on a Sunday and he had a 110v charger available ($450, mind you).
• ·        If you are a wheelchair user, and don’t use a hoist, phone or email ahead and get them to measure the height of the bed – sometimes there’s a choice, but if not, you may have to carry “elephant’s feet” to raise a low bed. And if you do use a hoist make sure its legs will fit under the bed.
•  In the UK and USA (and probably other places), accessible doesn’t necessarily mean an accessible bathroom – always specify “wet floor” shower in the UK and “roll in shower” in the USA. And email or phone and double check!!

More tips later.

Forecast is for a cold front with 50knot winds and 5mtre swell tonight -Melbourne tomorrow – Tuesday – and of course it’ll be wet and cold.

More soon.