Went to V2007 Festival at the weekend and had a great time. Took the trike as usual (I'm not on commission I promise) and it was great for travelling around to each stage. It was a bit daunting at times though as there are so many people walking about and they only see you at the last minute. There were quite a few other wheelchair users there and the ones that didn't have trikes or scooters just had people helping them to push..

I went with my friend Faye and met up with a load of other friends who were already there camping. Mobile phones are a nightmare at festivals as there are so many people trying to make and receive calls that they rarely work. The best way of communicating is by text as they will always get through within a few minutes. If you are trying to meet up with people its tough but I managed to meet up with my friends early on then lost them later so Faye and I just headed over to the main stage to watch Pink. She was awesome, absolutely amazing singer and what a great performance as well. She really owns the stage when she's on it.

   

The wheelchair platform at the main stage is perfect for watching the bands. You are a bit further back than you would like to be but when there are 80,000 people all squashed together in front of the stage, your quite grateful to have a flat elevated platform to sit and watch the action from in relative comfort.

It started raining about 9.30pm half way through the Foo Fighters set but by then we didn't care. We had our waterproof macks on, "No Way Back" was blasting out of the speakers at us and we were just 2 more nodding heads in a sea of nodding heads. A really great day.

 

 

Cyprus June 2007. I've just got back from a great holiday in Cyprus with Jo and Nieve. We stayed in a lovely 3 bed villa near Peyai which is half hour drive from Paphos. We found the villa through a friend who had already stayed there and they remembered that the place had a hoist for the pool and roll in showers.

We travelled with Easyjet from Gatwick and the flight couldn't have been easier. Again I wanted to take my trike with me in case we wanted to do some site seeing(although we didn't, and the trike stayed in the boot of the car for the whole holiday). I have to commend Easyjet as they really are great at dealing with wheelchairs and their occupants. Transferring at either end was simple; you just have to wait for everyone else to get off first. The staff are always really helpful and can't do enough for you. Once out of customs we headed for the car rental area and located out car. We were a bit nervous about getting all the gear and us into one car but with a little help from the rep we got the trike in the boot with main case Nieve in the back with her case along with my wheelchair. Sorted, we were off.

We found the villa easily with the directions given and settled ourselves in. the Villa was lovely will great access to all areas and the hoist for the pool.

I haven't used a hoist before(apart from in hospital when I had a broken collar bone) but this one was great. You can't operate it on your own which is a bit of a drag but getting in and out is easy. The chair of the hoist even doubles as a shower chair so no need for one of those too.

We spent to week just chilling during the day by playing in the pool, sunbathing and looking for a nice restaurant in the evenings. First night we went to Coral Bay which was a strip of restaurants, bars and clubs. The restaurants were ok but we felt that we could be in any part of Spain, not Cyprus as it was full of English bars and English tourists. Access was good though, no problems getting in most of the bars and restaurants. After that we decided to head more inland to find little villages where the taverna's were tucked away and we could sample the real Cypriot cuisine and lifestyle. The prices were a lot cheaper too!! We found that most places were accessible to the restaurant but very few could give you access to their toilet facilities.

  

  

Jo managed to find a riding stable for Nieve so one afternoon they set off so Nieve could spend the afternoon riding a pony on the beach. She had a great time, while I lay on my lounger in the pool and took it easy.

Once we had had our dinner in the evenings we would retreat back to the villa to sit and chat, listen to the ipod and drink too much red wine. I think I had drunk enough by now!

All in all Cyprus was a great holiday but I am not sure I would be in a rush to go back. The villa was great and really for the price we couldn't have asked for much better. We just felt a bit let down by the area and the fact that the resorts had all become a bit commercial. If you are willing to head off the beaten track then you will come across the real Cyprus.

Sadly Jo and I seperated shortly after this holiday but we remain good friends.

For my birthday treat Jo took me to Barcelona for a long weekend away. I'd never been to Barcelona before but Jo had been a couple of times and she loved it. We flew with Easyjet and we wanted to take my trike with us to help get around. I was nervous about travelling with the trike as the bag that holds it is massive and an awkward shape. We arrived at the terminal and waited in the queue hoping that they would let us put the trike in the baggage hold and not refuse it. Easyjet were brilliant and said it wasn't a problem we just had to take it across the isle to the large baggage deposit area, they gave us a receipt and off we went. We arrived at the departure gate nice and early and the stewardess's took us straight to the plane. At the entrance to the plane I swapped over into a skinny chair and they took my chair down to the hold. Once inside the plane a steward pushed me down to my seat and I transferred over. That's it, first hurdle over I thought and the rest of the journey went without a hitch. We even had our very on transvestite stewardess to look after us and chat with at the front of the plane.

The only down side to the journey was that the pilot parked the plane in the wrong place so there was no lift to get me down. Two old blokes got the job of carrying me down the stairs in the skinny wheelchair and I thought they were gonna have a heart attack by the time they got me on to the tarmac. Not the greatest and most dignified way of arriving in a country but I always do try to see the funny side if I can. All the other passengers had already got off and on their way to the terminal so it wasn't done on public display which was a relief.

Arrived at the hotel about 11.30pm on the Thursday night, tired, hungry and needing a drink. Only to be greeted with a room with a shower cubicle and no access. After several false starts we finally managed to get the right room the following day when some people checked out. Phew we can finally relax.

Barcelona is a great place with mostly accessible restaurants and bars. The people are very friendly and helpful and the food is great. We stayed right in the heart of Barcelona just round the corner from "Les Rambles" which is I suppose the Oxford Street of Barcelona but with great bars, restaurants and street entertainers. Les Rambles is about 1 ½ miles long and is on a very slight gradient so very easy pushing one way but not so much fun the other way after a while but a good workout all the same. Seeing as though I can be lazy at times, it was time to get the trike out. The trike made life so easy, it was a breeze to whiz down to the harbour for some lunch and back up again to the hotel for a quick siesta!!

Jo and I didn't do as much sight seeing as we should have as there is so much to see, but we did go to The Sagrada Família which is the cities world famous Cathedral built by Gaudi. But still not finished! Check out www.barcelonaturisme.com for more info.

  

I loved Barcelona and would recommend it to anyone. The city is very well organised for wheelchairs and the people are very helpful if you need assistance. I will hopefully be back there soon.

My next trip with "Back Up" would take me to Colorado USA on a 12 day skiing trip with 9 other wheelers and 6 buddies.

February 2006 was going to be the best month I've had since my accident in 2003. The Back Up Trust were taking me and 9 other wheelchair users to Colorado for a 12 day trip to learn to ski again. 6 buddies would be joining the trip to help out and generally be there as support to us on our expedition! I hadn't been this exited about doing something for a very long time.

I arrived at Heathrow and my dad helped me in with my luggage. As I arrived and found the group my first response to arriving was "Oh no not you again" I looked up to see the smiling face of Ali who I had met on the trip up to Keswick trip. Great, I already know someone.

The procedure for getting on and off the plane was very much like my trip to Barcelona so this time there were no nerves. We all settled into our seats and started to get to know each other. At the other end of a long flight we were all tired and it did take a while getting through customs but when we did there was a comfortable coach waiting for us. The coach had a lift to get us all in and once we had transferred over to the seats we could all relax, and most of us fell asleep. We arrived at the hotel 2 hours later and checked in. We had double rooms and I shared with Guy, one of the buddies. The rooms were spacious enough and access to the toilet and bath were adequate. Feeling shattered from the travelling I got in bed and fell asleep straight away looking forward to the next day.

I had skied many times since I was a teenager so thought that I would be able to pick it up quite quickly, how WRONG was I. Being a T5 complete with no sensation below the chest I was going to have to learn a new technique and it wasn't going to be easy. I struggled for the whole trip while some people who had never skied before picked it up relatively quickly which was all the more frustrating!! Although I never managed to get the technique down it was one of the best holidays I've ever had. Being away with 9 other people all dealing with the same issues but all pushing each other on was amazing and something I will remember for a very long time.

The skiing was divided into 2 sets of 4 days skiing with a day off in the middle. This day off was also going to be one of the best days I'd had since coming off my motorbike. I've never tried riding a snow mobile before but always thought it looked like great fun, so when the opportunity was put in front of us to spend an afternoon on the mountain screaming around with 500cc's between our legs most of us had no hesitation. It was amazing to feel the acceleration of the machines on the snow and it was the nearest experience I'd had to riding a bike again. The only problem this time was keeping your backside from sliding off the seat.

The twelve day trip went by like a flash but we all made great friends and one of the team "Ali" even managed to bag himself his future wife! The evenings were spent in the local restaurants eating great food and drinking too much wine and beer but we had all used up so much energy during the day that we needed it. Well that's the story and I'm sticking to.

  

The Ski Instructors also deserve a mention as they are amazing. Most of them are volunteers and spend most of the day picking you up off the snow and setting you in the right direction again, which isn't easy if you weigh quite a bit and act like a dead weight in the snow. You are given every assistance possible in choosing the right ski and making sure you are comfortable and secured into it properly. The general feeling is that everyone wants you to have the best experience possible from the trip.

  

  

Although I didn't manage to ski particularly well during the trip I do still have every intention of going back sometime soon.

I had heard of the "The Back Up Trust" while I was in hospital and now I felt ready to contact them. Back up is a brilliant charity/ Trust that tries to get spinal chord injured people back doing fun and sporting activities again. My first trip with them was to Keswick in the Lake District on a multi activity week. I had to get there under my own steam and although I was back driving I hadn't ventured much further than my local area. This was going to be a 5 hour drive and I suppose I saw it as the start of the adventure. I had bought a bleeper device from Service Call which would mean that I didn't have to get out of the car when needing petrol. Well that didn't work as the station I arrived at decided to ignore the flashing blue light going off in there shop. Oh well it just meant I couldn't be lazy and I would have to get my chair out and do it myself. Petrol tank full, on we go. I really enjoyed the journey up to Keswick, driving through the hills and mountains on the way; it really gave me a feeling of freedom.

Finally arrived at the Calvert Trust Centre 5 ½ hours after setting off and was greeted by lots of smiling faces ready to help me haul all my luggage from the boot. Most people had already arrived so I introduced myself to a few people and was allocated a room with 2 others.

Day 1: The group leader points to a mountain in the distance and says "today we are gonna climb that". Everyone in the group is a bit shocked but 5 hours later we were all sitting on top of that mountain with huge grins on our faces. To do what we thought was impossible was the idea and it worked. Sitting on top of that mountain I realised that I could still achieve a lot in life, so that day really made a difference to me. For the rest of the week we spent our time abseiling down rock faces, canoeing, sailing, hand cycling and generally getting physical again. We also learnt new wheelchair skills such as being able to drop down 2 steps without falling out the chair and landing on my face. I met some great people that week and it really opened my eyes to what could still be out there for me.

I remember driving home from the Lake District with a big smile on my face and a real feeling of achievement.