Testify!

Angela Griffen attends Ōamaru Corps and also works one day a week at the Family Store. She grew up in a care home, but as a young woman decided she wanted to live independently. Doing the Otago Central Rail Trail in her wheelchair was another step towards independence.

With many months of planning, my dream to ride part of the Otago Central Rail Trail came true. I had been talking about it for ages with my sister Bridget, her husband John, along with Eric and Pam who drive my van. However, we had to wait for the weather to be just right, and I had to be fit enough to go on the trip. It was a cloudy but reasonably warm day when we headed out.

We left on Wednesday 26 April around 11:30am and arrived two hours later with a couple of stops along the way. In the morning, I couldn’t wait to get going but we had to wait and see what the weather was going to do. We didn’t want to be out there in the pouring rain!

I thought it was a long way to ride the rail trail; I wasn’t sure what to expect. The only rail trail I had seen in the past was the one that goes through Weston, just next door to Ōamaru. That trail is part of the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail whereas we rode on the Otago Central Rail Trail this time.

My wheelchair lasted for six and a half kilometres without needing a charge, although the battery was fairly flat by the end of that day. The hills along the trail were impressive. We saw horses up close as well as other bikers along our journey. Some of the bikers were worried I wouldn’t make it over the bridges safely, but it all went smoothly for me.

When we got to the tunnel, I had to turn my wheelchair lights on to see where I was going. As we approached the tunnel, John said I better turn my lights on, and I said, ‘why?’ I quickly found out because of how dark it was in there.

When we got to the tunnel, I had to turn my wheelchair lights on to see where I was going.

We went over a narrow bridge where John had to steer my chair because the rails were still in place; it was narrow and slow going. Otherwise, we had a smooth trip and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The weather was just perfect, and I’m still talking about the trip months later!

The excitement of being able to undertake this trip was just as satisfying as being able to show others that it could be done by a person in a wheelchair. I have enjoyed sharing the story of my trip as much as actually going on the journey. It was a very memorable day.

Any experience I can have that is normal and helps me to grow is worth it to me as a person, so I never say no. I grew up living mostly in institutions so being independent and doing things like the rail trail are really important to me. This is made possible due to having my own van to be able to go places. I had heard about the rail trail beforehand from family members and because my dad had been on it years earlier.

Like most things in life, a series of events came about which made this all possible. My having faith that it would all work out paid off once again, as it usually does. Some things I am too scared to attempt but I always have faith that once I decide to do something, it will work out in the end.