Up The Farway Tree

Wheel Chair Rally Driving

Well, I am almost finished my IV's - 2 days and counting. I am feeling better, although still very tired at the moment. Sometimes the antibiotics themselves can really drain you though, so hopefully I will feel much brighter next week.

I did manage to go on my trip to Arran and had a nice relaxing time. We had my friends civil ceremony on the Tuesday morning and a meal in the evening, so I was able to have a rest in the afternoon. I was really tired on Wednesday though so we decided the best course of action was to just drive around the coast, looking at the nice scenery and generally behaving like a pair of pensioners. Fortunately the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we got the roof down on the car and I can now technically say I spent the day outdoors. We did get out the car to take photos, eat an ice lolly and have some lunch. Adventurous pair that we are.





Having had such a sedate day on Wednesday, I felt determined to see some of Arran from outside the car before we left on Thursday. Neither my lungs or my peg tube (which has been playing up big time again) agreed however and I managed a shuffle round one shop before we had to go back to the car again. Not to be beaten, I had brought my newly acquired emergency wheelchair with me, and decided we should give it a test drive. I had borrowed one from the Red Cross a few months back, so that I would have a back up plan for getting out when I was really breathless. Although I didn't need to use it much, it seemed a good idea to get my own so that I have more options for getting out and about. The GP kindly organised that and I got a nice shiny black one (to match my nice shiny black car) just last week. I call it my back up plan, because at the moment I do want try and walk as much as I can, to maintain some muscle bulk and general fitness. However, when I have days when I would choose to stay in because I can't walk further than the next room then this seems like a sensible choice to make. In the past I have worried that by using a wheelchair I was giving in; now I can see it simply means not giving up.


Anyway, to get back to my story, on one of the leaflets we had there was a list of suggested walks and trails for the 'less able' and it had information on suitability for wheelchairs. We selected one that was apparently accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. It started off alright - a little bumpy perhaps but generally flat and even. Then gradually the road became more rough and before I knew it we seemed to be in rocky terrain, bumping and jolting and generally taking off road wheelchair use to completely new levels. As we charged down this stony path, Andrew seemed to think that the only way to overcome the rocks and boulders strewn in our path was to gain momentum and just hurtle me over them. I did not know there was such a thing as 'wheelchair sickness' but I can assure you it does exist. To make matters worse, there were several small bridges to be negotiated. I say bridge - they were in fact planks of wood, only about 6" wider than the wheelchair going across streams. I did that thing where you hold you breath, as if it makes everything smaller. Andrew did that thing where you pretend you are going to steer the wheelchair over the side and into the water. Oh, is it only him that does that? I thought so. This face was not laughing. At the point the path was now going to cross a golf course and we had the added hazard of being knocked out by a roving golf ball, we decided to turn back. Once back to the car, I had to take tablets for nausea, pain killers for my peg tube which had been jostled around, and was in need of a stiff drink for my nerves. Andrew had a sore back from bending over almost double and red raw hands from gripping the chair as he rammed it over rocks. Maybe next time we will just stay in the car.


The start of our rocky journey:


Herring Gull, snapped by Andrew from top deck of ferry: