Month: June 2012

1

We visited Pacha for Tiesto clublife and apart from being blown away by the quality of the sound system, we were impressed with the willingness of the staff to find an accessible toilet. The accessible toilet was through an incredibly packed dancefloor in front of the DJ booth, getting us there was not an easy task for the security personnel. Of all the clubs we visited, Pacha was the least accessible but the help from the staff was fantastic.
At the cream opening at Amnesia we had VIP access but unfortunately this was inaccessible by wheelchair. The lighting and sound system were second to none with Deadmau5 playing one of the best sets on holiday. The sound was probably the loudest and my tinnitus lasted most of the next day. Most of the important areas in amnesia were accessible although a significant amount of the chillout spaces were upstairs.
At privilege, supermartx was definitely an experience, the light show and dancing girls were incredible. Privilege was also all accessible, even the second room and had a decent, dedicated wheelchair accessible toilet. It was the most impressively organised of all the clubs in my opinion.

1

This is a recount of some of the experiences I had on my 10 day stag in Ibiza.
As a C4 tetraplegic, I have no control of arms or legs and very little stability in my torso. I therefore rely on my head controlled power wheelchair and assistance from others.
We flew into Ibiza International and although usually I’m petrified of my wheelchair being damaged in baggage handling, I was reassured by friendly staff (who were capable but understandably not used to manoeuvring someone without any arm movement) that they had treated the wheelchair with care. After the customary uncomfortable transfer back to my wheelchair from the aircraft seat, we were escorted all the way to the taxi rank by bubbly and friendly “airport wheelchair assistants” wearing fluorescent jackets with large wheelchair symbols emblazoned on the back.
Another concern was the availability of suitable transport, this was alleviated soon as two adapted Renault Espace taxis arrived promptly. Other accessible vehicles we encountered included Volkswagen Caravelle’s and Caddy. To comfortably fit in the vehicles we needed to enter in reverse and steering the vehicle in reverse via the joystick occasionally required nerves of steel in the early hours of the morning.
The hotel was as accessible as we could have hoped with a walk-in shower, enough room to manoeuvre, understanding and friendly staff (who were also inquisitive but not rude in anyway) and entirely wheelchair friendly grounds. Although the pool had no specific facilities I still managed to get in for a quick dip.
The first club we went to was “Space”, my personal favourite, and after talking to the friendly door manager and explaining we were looking to see how accessible it was because we had tickets to the next day’s opening of “we love”, he let the four of us in for free. This unprecedented generosity definitely gave me an instant liking of space and the traditional club style layout definitely lends to a pleasant wheelchair experience with all the main areas being accessible. We visited Space until closing another four times that trip and experienced highlights such as “Mark Knight”, “Forza”, “2 Bears” and possibly the set of the holiday “James Zabelia”.

next post:
Pacha…tiesto, VIP etc
amnesia… deadmau5
privilege… supermartx and

1

Ibiza and survived with just three broken teeth and a tatoo. Two nights in space (2-bears & James zebilia), cream@amnesia (deadmau5), tiesto@pasha & supermartx@privilege. Thanks lads!

Managed to break a few front teeth by falling out of my chair. Very luckily there is no other lasting damage. Now to get them repaired before the wedding.
The holiday was fantastic, lots of sun, great music and beautiful women. Great to be back with Ellen now.

186

Engaged in management of kidney stones, now mostly complete and stent, which was causing significant discomfort is out. Working on the final touches of the control parameters for the off-road wheelchair (motor control electronics with discrete sensors for anyone interested) when I have time. Ibiza stag do approaches incredibly fast. Work very interesting too much going on to really enjoy it at the moment.
Wedding arrangements very exciting and just about managing to keep up with schedule, lots of great help from others.