Christmas holiday time was approaching and as a family we enjoy getting away and lapping up the great destinations that this country has to offer with family and friends. Keeping in mind that I’m getting a little tired of choosing holidays that accommodate for my quadriplegic habits or are easily accessible by concrete footpaths, café’s and theme parks for the kids, I decided this holiday was going to be different.

I have always enjoyed the Australian bush and prior to my injury I enjoyed getting away to Victoria ’s lush high country during summer. Early in the piece I decided I’d like to do the bushland escape, so off to the internet I went in search of a good holiday destination. I came across an organisation that offers accommodation in Victoria ’s great high country called ‘AMG’ (Able Management Group). AMG is an organisation formed by a group of people in memory of the late ‘Michael Norton’ who was a 2 times Paralympics Gold medal Winner in his sport of Down Hill Sit-Skiing.

Able Management Group (AMG) is a non-profit, membership-based organisation dedicated to providing sporting and recreational opportunities to people with disabilities, so that they can develop their abilities in the Alpine area throughout the year. AMG also allows anyone with a disability to hire the house out and invite close family and friends to share a good accessible holiday.

This was exactly what I was looking for so I called up some family & friends to see who would be keen to join us (wife, son & myself) in Harrietville which is the very last town just before you make the steep ascending climb to Mt Hotham. Along came my sister and her husband with their 2 children, my mother and father who never like to miss out on a family get away, and my close paraplegic friend Simon and his wife who are very keen fishing people who also love the great outdoors.

AMG’s location was fantastic! It is situated amongst the beautiful Oven’s valley bush of Victorian’s high country with the crystal clear Oven’s River running through the rear of the 5 acre property. There is accessible accommodation for twelve on the property, with four bedrooms (including double and single beds with one single electric bed), 2 fully accessible bathrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen and a large open living and dining area with a pot belly wood fire. There are paths from the back verandah that weave their way around the gardens, through walnut trees to the Ovens River . Sitting in the backyard in the shade, under one of the giant walnut trees, overlooking the stunning mountains that surround Harrietville, listening to the sounds of the running river and the wind blowing through the trees was extremely relaxing. It doesn’t get any better than this on a hot summer’s day!

For the first few days I was not interested in moving off the property to do any activities or sightseeing. I was just really enjoying the surroundings by exploring the property in my electric wheelchair with my 4 year old nephew and 6 year old son. Just before dusk, out came the fishing rods and we dangled some worms in the Ovens River at the rear of the property to keep the kids entertained. To our surprise within no time we caught some lovely pan sized rainbow and brown trout. After two and a half hours and ten trout in the basket we headed off to the BBQ to cook fresh and wild trout for dinner.

The next day we headed up and over the big hill of Mt Hotham for lunch at the Dinner Plain’s ski resort. The drive was absolutely fantastic with breathtaking views of the Victorian high country, however the devastation of the big bush fires that went through the year before left large pockets of ghost bush land which will take time to heal. Once we reached the summit of Mt Hotham, where the air is thin and crisp, it was only a short drive down the other side of the mountain to Dinner Plan’s resort for lunch. After lunch we had time to explore. There were many accessible tracks and to my surprise there were many concrete tracks weaving through the alpine village to some of the ski runs. These were great and exciting to zoom along in the electric chair set on full speed.

Back at AMG in the shed was a registered buggy which was set-up with hand controls for SCI individuals who could drive. The boys had a few hours of fun bush bashing amongst the many tracks in and around the hills of Harrietville. I can’t drive so I snuck off to the higher pub for a few quite ones with the locals. There are two pubs within pushing distance from the house with the lower pub focusing on family meals and the higher pub being the drinkers club.

I think I went back to the house after the pub or I was abducted by some greater powers than my own. The only side affect was a headache in the morning with little sympathy.

On the up side of my “Bad Morning After”, the girls found a café which was only a few hundred meters down the road located in a lavender farm. Trust the girls to find a café in the middle of nowhere in a tiny country bush town! The Lavender Farm sold just about everything you can make from lavender, from your basic home grown lavender plants to lavender scones, pan-cakes, milk shakes, ice-cream etc. Now instead of feeling green I was feeling purple.

I noticed a few hangliders and micro-light planes up high in the sky and needing an adrenaline fix I decided to book myself in for a flight around Mt Buffalo, Mt Hotham and Mt Sterling. It was time to get high! I have never been in a micro-light plane before but I was really excited and a little nervous about going up in the sky in a fibreglass kite with a motor attached at the rear.

After a bit of lifting and pushing with the help of my portable hoist, carer and the pilot I was strapped in, helmeted-up and ready to fly. My son’s last words before we started the motor was “dad why do you need to wear a helmet?” I replied with “good question son, but I don’t know”. Taking off was a little hairy and rough with lots of moving and unsettled air close to the ground, however once we were up high it was calm and absolutely mind blowing to see the high peaks from 3,000ft with a perfect royal blue sky back drop. I love the feeling of being up high with great views and this experience was something special. I highly recommend this flight around the high country for anyone that’s up for this type of thing.

AMG is definitely a well set-up destination for an all season’s accessible holiday. Both bathrooms were well set-up with easy access and the open living area is very large and roomy. The only downside was the bedrooms. The beds were a little old and dusty, but adequate and access into the bedrooms (780mm wide doorways and narrow hallway) was very tight for electric wheelchairs. Don’t expect luxury accommodation.

All together it was great to get away to AMG in Harrietville for a good accessible country escape. AMG offers all season activities within quick easy reach to the snow fields and heaps to do in the warmer months. If you would like to know more don’t hesitate to contact the information department at AQA on (03) 9489 0777.

Written by Peter Van Benthen