travel
By Kate Hill
THE HOUSE THAT
KEVIN AND
TRACEY BUILT
As one of South Australia’s
experiences as Kevin travelled the and extra-wide doorways, to roomy
first Paralympians at the world as a competitor and coach for bathrooms with handheld shower
age of 22, Kevin Bawden four Paralympic Games and also as heads and half-recessed basins.
laughs as he recalls the the founder of the Wheelchair Sports ‘wheelchair-friendly Association of South Australia.
resort’ the large team of
athletes was put up in while
competing in Israel in 1968.
“T
he beds didn’t even have
mattresses, just these
big straw-filled pillow
“There were 40 people in one
to shape the design of his and kitchen, moving easily around the
wife Tracey’s new venture – South ‘chair height’ benchtops.
bed and breakfast.
Situated right on the foreshore
age of four, Kevin, who has been a
wheelchair user from a young age, said
there is a distinct lack of standards for
eco-friendly home is designed to wheelchair friendly accommodation,
offer a unique experience with total both abroad and in Australia.
toilets. It was terrible.” and electric wheelchairs.
travel
Having contracted polio at the
of Meningie’s Lake Albert, the accessibility for people using manual
many eye-opening accommodation
the window, Kevin is whipping up
his mum’s special apricot pie in the
room with two showers and two
The incident would be just one of
a flock of pelicans perched outside
decades of travel experiences
Australia’s newest wheelchair-friendly
cases,” he said.
36
Now 74, Kevin has used his
On a Saturday afternoon, with
Every detail has been considered,
from the external wooden ramps
“It’s the little things that can make
the biggest difference,” he said.
“The height of the bed. Mirrors
and curtain cords at the right height.
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