Julie Ivory has clocked up nearly 20,000kms on mobility scooters since she had a stroke, and when the weather is right she teams up with fellow scooter riders to ride the local trails.
Last week a trio from Arvida Oakwoods village – part of the Rolling Bones scooter club - headed out onto the Great Taste Trail and over the swing bridge that crosses the Waimea River. Some days they ride to Brightwater for a coffee and back; something they couldn’t do without a scooter. A favourite trail is along the edge of the estuary to Best Island and wide, concrete paths in Berryfields and The Meadows have opened up more places for them to ride.
For Julie, who lost mobility after her stroke and struggles with her speech now, her scooters have been her “escape” into the outside world. Her first scooter carried her 14,000kms and she has more than 5,000kms on her second scooter which she heads out on several times a week.
“It’s a beautiful machine,” she says. “Escapee.”
Fellow scooter rider Mike Rodwell says Julie knows the local tracks “like the back of her hand” on her scooter and she’s one of a growing number of people using mobility scooters to get out and explore the area, or simply get their groceries.
When he went to live at Oakwoods eight years ago, he could count the number of scooters in the village on one hand. Now, he reckons there’s about 40. For some, it’s to do with mobility; for others it is failing eyesight that stops them driving cars, he says.
Now that there are so many mobility scooters, Mike says there needs to be a speed limit on occupied footpaths in towns. Members of the public periodically raise concerns about the speed of some mobility scooter drivers in town.
“Walking speed is 5kmh, so I would say it should be 5kmh and it should be an international speed limit. It’s a global issue.”
He says scooters should also stay on the curbside of pavements in town so they don’t risk hitting people coming out of doorways.
Their favourite destinations are out in the country though and Mapua is beckoning, which should be possible with batteries lasting about 50km. Mike says it’s always good to know they can recharge their batteries if it’s a longer ride though.
“We haven’t done it yet, but we should be able to go from Richmond and go on the ferry to have a fish and chip lunch in Māpua.”
