The Garden Route along the Cape’s south eastern shoreline is one
of South Africa's most enjoyable travel destinations. The N2 snakes its way
from the coastline towns of Stilbaai and Mossel Bay through the Tsitsikamma
Forests and along to the famous surfing beaches of Jeffreys Bay. There are
places to see, views to enjoy, things to do, and food to be eaten all along the
route, provided of course you can find wheelchair accessible accommodation.
In the region east of Plettenberg Bay lies a destination known as
The Crags. It is home to numerous well-known attractions such as Monkeyland,
Birds of Eden, Jukani, and the Knysna Elephant Park, to name but a few. We
normally stop in briefly, en route elsewhere, at the Peppermill Café for my
“Eggs Benedict” fix, but during a recent visit we decided to give this area
more attention and take the time out to enjoy each attraction to the fullest
extent. All of them are wheelchair accessible, although some require assistance
over rough ground and through the natural forest environment. All that was
needed was to find suitable accommodation in order to spend a couple of days in
The Crags. Easier said than done. After contacting a total of 15 B&Bs, and
holiday lodge style accommodations, I was not able to find a single one which
was wheelchair accessible. I even contacted the local informal tourist bureau,
who in turn made enquiries on my behalf, but nothing was forthcoming. Of
course, as so often is the case, there were endless reasons why there was a
lack of accessible accommodation, but none of them hold water in this day and
age.
What I found particularly annoying was the fact that the
attractions were accessible, but not the accommodation. The cart was being
placed before the horse. I don't know whether there is a co-ordinating
management structure for the region. If there is they need to get their act
together. I cannot help but compare The Crags complete lack of vision with the
far more intelligent view shown by the Robertson Wine Valley. They have a wide
selection of wine farms seeking to attract visitors. One way of encouraging
those visitors to spend more time in the valley is to provide suitable
accommodation, and to enable disabled visitors to enjoy the valley they provide
wheelchair accessible accommodation. This has proved to be very successful and
there are a number of accessible B&B in the Robertson Wine Valley. It is
not rocket science, it is common sense, but then we know that that is not so
common.
For our holiday we therefore had to extend our search for accommodation
a little wider to include the nearby town of Plettenberg Bay. There still were
not very many choices available despite this being a long established tourist
destination, but we were able to find a suitable B&B. What was The Crags
loss, became Plettenberg Bay’s gain, and a very pleasant and enjoyable
discovery it was.
CORNERWAY HOUSE is very well located within the town of
Plettenberg Bay and provides a high level of accessibility, ranging from the
paved parking area and paths to the spacious bedroom and bathroom, with easy
access to other areas of the house. The interior of the house was directly
accessible from our room and is all on one level, including the dining and
lounge areas, although there is one step down to the exterior breakfast area which
is used when the weather is fine. The ensuite bathroom is unusual in that
although it does not contain the usual collection of grab rails (although these
might well be added by the time this article was published) it is remarkably
disabled friendly thanks to its spacious nature and the layout of the shower,
handbasin, etc. In fact, I found it more friendly than most of the
establishments we have visited.
Add to this the welcoming and accommodating nature of Robin, Dee
& Kathy who run CORNERWAY HOUSE and one is provided with an excellent base
from which to explore this area of the Garden Route. Highly recommended, and
certainly on our list for a repeat visit.
CORNERWAY HOUSE
Tel: 044 533 3190
Email: info@cornerwayhouse.co.za
