Flight to Melbourne and Vibe Savoy Hotel Melbourne

Officially on holiday as we need to get up early - what's that about!!!!

Up at 5am to be at the airport for 6am with plenty of time for our 8.30am flight.   I like to have plenty of time especially as we are travelling for the first time with my LevoC3 power-chair and in a large box a portable shower commode.

We always park at Auckland International Airport Parking and this time when I booked only covered parking was available which was that much more expensive. Parked in Car park D which is a 2 minute walk to the terminal. (Had a map inserted but things keep changing at the airport so may not be up to date - Aug 2016)


Arrived early so had to wait until 6am when our parking time started!   Access is by inserting the credit card you paid with - easy.     Found a park at the end of a row under a light.

Check in was easy as we had Premium Check-in.   No problems with the large box.   Took our two carry-ons with us to the plane.

Our carrier of choice is Air New Zealand and we were booked on a 777-300 and upgraded to Premium Economy.




Wow - great seats!  We are totally converted to this class as it was so much easier for me to lifted in and out of the seat.   Heaps of room, great service and very nice food.



Plus:
The vast selection of activities on the inflight entertainment will keep even the most fidgety of flyers engaged for the whole flight. Enjoy over 1,700 hours of content - including latest movies, TV box sets, video games, and a dedicated kids section - all on a 10.6” personal touch screen in widescreen format. If you need more, there are always the USB and iPod connections to plug in to


Our flight over was fast and we were told there was a window of 15 minutes for our arrival on the new flight time.    Alas that did not work as we arrived early then had to wait on the 'apron' until our gate became available - 1/2 hour.     Due to the wheel chair passengers (me and others) we could not be disembarked on the tarmac which could have been an option.

Only disappointment was how long we had to wait for my power chair to arrive at the plane - think we waited another 1/2 hour.

Finally we were off and able to get through Immigration - airport helper insisted we use the fast track system, but for some reason it would not let me.  Pete went through and I was taken to the front of the queue to be processed.   Off to get the luggage - all relatively easy.  

I declared 'nuts' on the Agriculture form as we had taken Whittakers Chocolates with us.  Good move as we were sent to the red line which was completely empty and we got straight through!    Actually the Officer was annoyed with me.....    Tough worked for us!

We had been told there was no need to order a wheelchair accessible taxi, so we found the taxi area and the taxi rep ordered up a maxi taxi.    Didn't have to wait long at all.

Ride to to Vibe Savoy Hotel, on corner of Spencer Street and Little Collins cost around $66.00.  So we were glad it was a Sunday and not a week day.    The recommendation came from:
http://havewheelchairwilltravel.net/category/melbourne/




We had an Easy Access Room - not strictly fully accessible but did work for us.  Huge room although bathroom a little small, but no issue when using the shower commode.




Room overlooked the Atrium - bonus being no road or other noise!



Entry to bathroom




Shower stall - portable shower commode fitted.

Across Spencer Street there is an Outlet Store Centre, Foodcourt and Coles Supermarket.   Got our wine and water for the ship from Coles.    Pete had a neck and shoulder massage at one of the shops in the Outlet Centre.

On arrival in Melbourne it was a hot 35 degrees.   We walked into Coles it was that temperature and when we walked out 20 minutes later the temperature had dropped 10 degrees and was really windy.   By 6pm it was raining sideways.

We stayed in the hotel for drinks and dinner and were joined by our brother-in-laws cousins for dinner.   A jolly night was had by all!

Finally off on another cruise - Golden Princess Christmas - New Year 2015!

Finally after a four year drought we are off cruising again.  This time on the Golden Princess departing Melbourne 21 December 2015, 13 nights to New Zealand and back to Melbourne.

Day	Port / Date	Arrive	Depart
1	Melbourne, Australia  Monday, December 21		4:00 PM
2	At Sea  Tuesday, December 22
3	At Sea  Wednesday, December 23
4	At Sea  Thursday, December 24
5	Auckland, New Zealand  Friday, December 25 Christmas day at home	10:00 AM	8:00 PM
6	Tauranga, New Zealand  Saturday, December 26	5:00 AM	4:00 PM
7	Gisborne, New Zealand  Sunday, December 27 tender port unfortunately	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
8	Wellington, New Zealand  Monday, December 28	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
9	Akaroa, New Zealand  Tuesday, December 29	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
10	Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand  Wednesday, December 30	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
11	Fiordland National Park, New Zealand  Thursday, December 31	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
12	At Sea  Friday, January 1
13	At Sea  Saturday, January 2
14	Melbourne, Australia  Sunday, January 3	7:00 AM

As you can see we will be home in Auckland for Christmas Day - a real bonus

We will fly over the day before on Air New Zealand on the new 777-300 configuration and we have treated ourselves to the new Premium Economy Spaceseats!

We have booked to stay at Vibe Savoy Hotel 
https://www.tfehotels.com/brands/vibe-hotels/vibe-savoy-hotel-melbourne 
which was recommended by 

http://havewheelchairwilltravel.net/accessible-accommodation-and-transfers-melbourne/#prettyPhoto

And for getting from the Aiport to the Hotel we will use Skybus as the City Terminal is virtually across the road from the hotel.
https://www.skybus.com.au/skybus-express-service/mobility-access/

We have booked an Accessible Inside Cabin on Caribe - C252 - a mid-forward cabin (behind the stairs), close to the elevator and the self service laundry.

Stateroom Number: C252
Type: Interior

Category: IB
Location: Mid-Forward
Deck: 10 (Caribe)
Bath Type: Shower
Connecting Room: N/A
Total Size: 237 sq. ft.

Special Notes:
WHEELCHR ACCESSIBLE

Booked a car park at Auckland Airport - covered close to the terminal for a reasonable price, meaning we only have a 2 minute walk to the international terminal for a quick arrival and departure.

Day Five, Wanaka, Lake Hawea, and WIne!

Well today we didn’t quite know how it was all going to work.   Pete and I are checking out of the Kingsgate as we are moving to the Mercure Hotel on the other side of town to attend the AROC (Alfa Romeo Owners Club) AGM.     Also we were picking up friends Fiona and Bruce (who also belong to AROC) at the airport, getting them to their loan car (they have friends who have a bach/crib at Wanaka, who leave a car at the airport) and then??   All we knew was they wanted to go to Wanaka. 

So all that done, the big discussion was had!   Fiona was keen to wine taste but we could only do a minimal amount or we couldn’t do Wanaka and back!

First stop at 10am was Amisfield Winery at the foothills the Crown Range and only a few minutes drive from the airport.    Only Fiona and Bruce did tastings as it was too early for the rest of us!

Going up the Crown Range - looking back

The drive over the Crown Range was completely different than I had imagined.  There is a steep climb up then it plateaus out and is quite flat.   We drove through Cardrona which again was not what I expected.  A small settlement with the famous Cardrona pub and that was it!   It was some distance to the Cardrona Ski Field which is actually off the main road.

Famous Cardrona Hotel

Another long windy drive down into Wanaka where decided to have lunch.   Found a nice pub on the waterfront.     While there we saw a lot of familiar Alfa’s being driven around.  All obviously together on their way down to Queenstown.

Lake Wanaka

Next mission was to find Fiona and Bruce friends crib which turned out to actually be at Lake Hawea not Wanaka as I thought, about 20 minutes from Wanaka.   We played follow the leader and eventually we found the crib – right on the lake front no less!!!!   Section was a good quarter acre and the crib appeared to be one of the original cribs in the area.   Must be worth a bomb!   What a fantastic spot.

View from the front of the Crib!

Pete had the return trip all sorted – yeah right!   We eventually arrived back at the main highway to go south back Queenstown via Luggate and Cromwell (again!) Only problem was we encountered road works which slowed us down.  

So you know where we are going here is a map: http://goo.gl/maps/i0qSu

On the way we detoured and called into Pisa Moorings which we had seen from the other side of Lake Dunstan a couple of days before.   It was not a resort but new subdivision and some properties had moorings.   Again in the middle of no where!

Back in Cromwell Fiona and Bruce wanted to go to the Wooing Tree Winery which has come highly recommended.   The Winery has a little café as well, which meant we could have afternoon tea once we had done some tasting of course!  We tasted and bought the Blondie, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris and were able to shared case with Fiona & Bruce, which meant we could get a discount and free freight back to Auckland.

As it was getting late we headed back to Queenstown

As we need to collect our luggage from the hotel and drop Julie & Dave off.   We are keeping the rental car as they fly back to Auckland on the Saturday while we are staying on until the Sunday.

At check in at Mercure we were treated like royalty!!!  Fussed over and I was called Mrs. Kelly etc!   Hmmm they knew exactly who I was as I was the only one from the club arriving that used a wheelchair and I had complained when originally booking at being charged for the hotel portion three months out!  I don’t mind paying a deposit but not the full amount in advance!    Anyway it was worth being fussed over as check in was chaos!    Total Registration for AROC AGM was 94 and the car park full of Alfas and the odd rental car!

I had booked as accessible room with a standard shower (which had a small lip and would provide a shower stool) with a Lakeview.   Well Room 107 was a joke.  Yes accessible as it was large and on the Reception level, but a Shower stool in 700 x 900 stall was ridiculous.    We had a think about it and asked if we could change to a properly accessible room but alas no as hotel full to bursting.    So we were going to have to make do!   Wish I had taken photos.

Anyway we had a more pressing engagement – Registration and Pre-dinner drinks and socializing to do!    The reception rooms were full to bursting as not only was there all of the AROC there was about 4 busloads of tourists!

 

Dinner wasn’t part of the package so we decided to book Waterfront where we had been on the first night. Pete booked for 6, and on the way in we realized he had made a mistake so I had to call ahead and increase the number to 8.     We collected Julie and Dave and headed for the restaurant.   While waiting for the others to arrive, another AROC couple turned up, so we had to hastily arrange for them to join us!   The restaurant was very accommodating and we had a really nice night.

One very annoying thing was I decided I need to use the toilets.   We were told they were accessible.    OMG Toilets definitely not accessible friendly – goodness knows why anyone thought they were.   

Sunday 9th October

Brilliant sleep - Pete had taken the bed covers off and put on a lighter blanket plus we left the air con on in the living area to keep the temperature cool.   Managed to sleep until we heard the birds about 4.30am but did go back to sleep, waking at 6.15am - an improvement.

The coverage of Bathurst started at 6am so Pete had the TV on right away!   We are an hour behind the other eastern states and the coverage started with Classics racing in the fog up the mountain.

After breakfast I carried on writing this Blog while Pete kicked back.  Then suddenly Pete realized the mobile phone was ringing in my handbag, in the safe cupboard.  Bob and Janet from Taupo.  Last time we were in Noosa they were the first to call….. They rang with exciting news - Bob had proposed to Janet on Saturday via a big sign on the shed!  Romantic old boy.  (They live on a lifestyle block out of Taupo)    We are so excited for them.    We met them in 2006 on a Team Kiwi Racing trip to Adelaide and Melbourne for the racing.   They were dubbed ‘The Boss & his secretary’ on the trip, but that is another story….   And Bob was stoked Greg Murphy was on pole.

Today is devoted to sitting in front of the TV all day!!!  It’s an annual ritual.   And as in previous years there is a lot of strategy and planning around Safety Car events and after 5 odd hours the last few laps are exciting.    This year a record finish, with 0.29 seconds between first and second!  And Greg Murphy came third, which we were pleased about.

A pity in some ways as it was such a nice day outside.  We had all the windows and ranch sliders open with the screens across to keep out any bugs.  It was most pleasant.  

Actually one benefit of the apartment is that it is east facing so we get the morning sun and sheltered from the hot afternoon heat.   In the full heat of summer the outside BBQ area would be most pleasant particularly if there is a gentle breeze.   I am sure we will have a nightly pre-dinner drink out there when Julie and Dave arrive even though it is not summer really!!

The third quarter final of the Rugby World Cup between Australia and South Africa was half way through when we switched over from ‘The Great Race’.   

We decided to find a local pub to watch the fourth quarter final between New Zealand and Wales.   We found the pub - Villa Noosa eventually - it was next to Dan Murphy’s a liquor store (we thought it was the pub by the name!).  As Pete had had a couple of beers during the motor racing we walked and wheeled down the road.   Sunday afternoon 5pm and the roads seemed deserted, which was just as well and not all the local streets have footpaths, so I had to use the roadway.  Quite strange there are areas where there are footpaths and then areas with no footpaths… couldn’t work that out at all.  

Villa Noosa was very accessible, ramp outside and inside.    We had an early dinner while the game started in the restaurant - the prices were very reasonable and the food was nice.   I had an eye fillet steak which was superb and Pete the beef pie with mashed potato and mushy peas.   We then went into the public bar to watch the remainder.  The place was deserted???   Still we enjoyed watching the game.

Once back at the apartment we watched TV - found a “Grand Designs -Revisited” on one of the channels.  For a change something actually worth watching.   So many channels had very old movies and repeats it is dreadful.  I think we are a bit spoilt in New Zealand, expect for Prime, which is owned by Sky TV and very commercial.

Once again we were dead on our feet (so to speak) by 9pm.