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WINTER 2023 InTouch | 15 TRIPPING AROUND TASMANIA can occur. Some things that did not work for me as a power wheelchair user may work for someone in a manual chair or who is able to walk (aided or unaided). The good bits We used great rental car company –Wheelies – who deal in accessible vehicles and have depots all around Australia. We rented a VW Caddy and paid the extra to have it delivered and picked up from the airport. The company representative was on time, helpful and pleasant, and the cost for 2 weeks hire was pretty reasonable. Ratho Farm, in the small rural community of Bothwell, is a working farm that has Australasia’s oldest golf course at its centre. I chose here as our accommodation option as it combined my love of history – we stayed in a convict- built cottage – and Blair’s love of golf. The location, the cottage, dinner with other guests in the old Homestead, and the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff made this a memorable experience. The cottage has good access but we had to move the bed to one side allowing greater space for the wheelchair next to the bed. The bathroom worked well, although the metal seat in the shower makes for a rude awakening when sitting on it each morning! The Homestead’s accessibility is not perfect, but is do-able as there are stone steps up to the front verandah. A wheelchair user accesses the verandah from a grassed slope which is fine when dry but would be tricky when wet. There is no accessible bathroom in the building. In the north west, the Wandering Trout craft brewery in Mole Creek is a great stop for lunch. The brewery offers accessibility (entry and toilet), delicious food, accommodating staff, and great beer. Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary is the place to see an echidna, pat a wombat, feed kangaroos, and watch Tassie devils demolish a carcass. The Sanctuary is accessible, although be warned the terrain is gravel and grass with bird and kangaroo poo EVERYWHERE. Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden is an 11-acre site with over 24000 plants located inland from Burnie and Penguin. It is also the place to go to catch a glimpse of a platypus in the wild. This was going to be a big tick on my list if we managed to spot one…and happily we did. The gardens are lovely but The accessible loo at The Vault, Wynyard. The Wandering Trout craft brewery in Mole Creek is a great stop for lunch. they are hilly and gravelly. Parts are do-able in a power chair or for those more ambulatory you can book a buggy ride for a small fee. The visits to the Gardens and the Sanctuary were fantastic and we highly recommend both. Our accommodation at Wynyard was a couple of converted containers with great access, full kitchen, dining, lounge and 2 bedrooms, and a fantastic view of the estuary. Wynyard has a great restaurant in the old bank building (with the most amazing accessible toilet in the vault), and a lovely estuary and coastal boardwalk. We visited the fishing village of Stanley, where we got great fish and chips and sat eating lunch next to the old customhouse by the wharf and arguing with the seagulls. Stanley on the whole was inaccessible but we did find our way to Highfield, an historic house with good access to parts of the property (enough to satisfy the historian in me). Its history gives an insight into the early colonial settlement of Tasmania, which was not always welcome or positive. Cataract Gorge in Launceston is well worth a visit. Accessed by a steep hill, or an elevator for those with mobility issues, the scenic gorge has a peacock, picnic areas, an outdoor swimming pool, a lake and suspension bridge, although I was not brave enough to cross it as the weight of the wheelchair made it swing…a lot! The Lobster Shack in the quirky coastal town of Bicheno serves up delicious lobster rolls and half crayfish. The lower floor of the restaurant is accessible and the back deck is a good spot to enjoy your food on a nice day. It does get