Persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users and those with visual impairments, can now access one of the world’s most breathtaking travel destinations — the remote island nation of New Zealand located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean approximately 1,200 miles southeast of Australia.
Ability Adventures provides accessible travel services and creates itineraries tailored to each client that are packed with opportunities for adventure, exploration, and discovery throughout New Zealand’s three main islands (North, South, and Stewart Island).
Most trips are designed for small groups, four to six people, including couples, families, friends, and organizations. Itineraries are built round a client’s schedule, style, special needs, and budget.
In sharing the beauty of New Zealand with guests, Ability Adventures is committed to three values: accessibility, hospitality, and sustainability. They accomplish this through:
- Minimizing environmental impact
- Using resources efficiently (reduce, reuse, and recycle)
- Supporting businesses committed to sustainability
- Respecting the customs New Zealand’s indigenous peoples
- Supporting the local disability community.
Ability Adventures synthesizes founder Marina Hanger’s vast experience in tourism development and occupational therapy. Hanger co-founded one of New Zealand's first eco-tourism companies in the 1980s and later developed wilderness adventure programs for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind.
Dare and Discover Tour Accessible to Blind People
An example of an Ability Adventure is its 12-day Dare and Discover tour that combines cycling and hiking and is designed to accommodate blind and visually impaired travelers. Highlights include:
- Journeying over the Port Hills to Banks Peninsula and hiking the rim of an extinct volcano en route to the historic French settlement of Akaroa
- Walking the forest paths of the alpine village of Hanmer Springs with time for an afternoon soak in its renowned thermal pools
- Hiking over the Burkes Pass into the Mackenzie Basin and exploring the shores of beautiful turquoise-colored Lake Tekapo
- Experiencing the pure air, snow-capped peaks, glacial ice, and booming avalanches around the region of Aoraki/Mt Cook, New Zealand's tallest mountain (3,754 m)
- A two-day Queenstown provides opportunities for bungee jumping, hang gliding, whitewater rafting, or a relaxing hike or vineyard tour
- A three-day cycling adventure to the settlement of Middlemarch on the 150 km Central Otago Rail Trail
- A marine excursion to experience the wildlife of Tairoa Head (including the only inland colony of the giant Southern Royal Albatross) on the Otago Peninsula.
Other tours, including New Zealand Alive and Heartland Explored, are geared towards mobility-impaired and senior travelers.
Ability Adventures Offers Range of Activities
Those taking an Ability Adventure can pack their itinerary with many favorite activities, some adrenaline inducing, some relaxing. Options include:
- Bird watching
- Camping
- Fishing
- Jet boating
- Paragliding
- Photography
- Sailing
- Skiing.
Ability Adventures is one of a growing number of accessible travel companies that recognizes an often-overlooked aspect of disability: while those with vision or mobility impairments may need special assistance, they are, first and foremost, consumers eager to explore the world on their terms.
Andrew Leibs - Andrew Leibs is Suite101’s Feature Writer for Accessible Recreation. He is a longtime chronicler of the disability movement with ...
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