Time flies with a Toddler
It’s been a while between posts, 2 years in fact. Our little girl Eleven is now speeding towards turning 3 and it’s safe to say it’s been quite a busy time.
The most important event in that time would have to be our wedding in New Zealand in December last year. That trip wasn’t uneventful as far as accessiblity went, kicking off with getting stranded at Wellington airport in the wee hours of the morning with no wheelchair taxis on duty. This was a bit of an eye opener for my sister Karen who hadn’t traveled with me before. I ended up in a patient transfer van with the ambulance service, and Eleven got to ride in an ambulance with her aunty.
We traveled across the straight once again on the ferry as the wedding was to be held on the beach at Whenuanui Bay in the Marlborough Sounds which is where Jess’s family own a very special ‘bach’ or holiday home that’s been passed down through the generations. We kept it small and just had a couple of my closest family members - my sister and my adult daughter Courtney, and Jess’s immediate family, aunties and uncles.
Jess came walking down the beach with her Mum and Dad and holding Eleven who got the swing of throwing the rose petals as they walked. My sister Karen did the bulk of the food, with her background in catering she did an incredible job and we had a spectacular lunchtime picnic. It was truly a magical day for us.
Although we were unable to stay at the bach due to there being no accessible bathroom, we had a great unit with an incredible view over the water in Waikawa, a 20 minute drive away. We had a few hiccups in registering a car that I’d shipped from Melbourne so we instead had to hire a car in Wellington - which then had a ceiling that was too low for me to travel in comfortably.
We enjoyed Eleven’s 2nd birthday with my family in Caloundra, again renting our favourite unit at La Promenade overlooking the river.
Back here in Darwin I’ve been busy finishing up a Cert IV in Community Services at Charles Darwin University, giving school talks with NDS re life with disability and encouraging kids to think about the disability sector for a career pathway, and working to establish some more supports here depending on getting some funding.
I’ve also been volunteering with a local disability advocacy organisation called IDA, and even found myself a board member. I’ve currently got my fingers crossed for some funding to be approved so we can have more impact here in the NT.
In other news… I’ve modeled in a fashion show, been fixing up a 1963 Combi Van, found a regular Saturday market job looking after the bouncy castle, and kept improving the house and section.
Jess has been back at uni studying Visual Arts and is enjoying getting involved with the arts community here slowly and is particularly impressed with me at the moment as I just helped her create a studio space here at home.
I’m hoping to do a bit more of this blogging thing, so let me know what you want to know about…