Check this out. Terrific ep of Compass on Sunday night, featuring a bunch of people I know well. Check out the promo video for Love Your Neighbour
Baptist Minister Karina Kreminski is well known in the neighbourhood for her blog “Surry Hills and Valleys” which features stories of Surry Hills Residents. Compass explores Karina’s theology, life story and her views about the life and times of Surry Hills locals – all to illustrate what she calls her “Urban Mission.”
Not quite knowing what to expect, I signed up to do a “mapping exercise” of public spaces in Burwood, Sydney. The event was organised by the Physical Disability Council of NSW in conjunction with WheelEasy. While standard online resources like Google Maps can help people with a physical disability navigate, WheelEasy takes it a step further by crowd-sourcing information, empowering people with disabilities to update the maps themselves.
The platform was founded by Max Burt OAM, a prominent Australian disability advocate, entrepreneur, and the driving force behind the WheelEasy charity and web application. Max’s work focuses on improving accessibility information and shifting societal attitudes toward disability—efforts that earned him the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2025 Australia Day Honours List.
Before his advocacy work, Max had a fast-paced, highly successful career in the United Kingdom as an advertising executive. In late 1999, his life changed drastically when his car was hit side-on by an on-call fire engine. The collision left him with severe head injuries, partial paralysis on his left side, and significant speech, sight, and hearing impairments. Becoming a permanent wheelchair user meant completely rebuilding his life from scratch.
Driven by the sheer frustration of not knowing which venues he could easily access, Max created the WheelEasy Access Information web app. Often described as a “TripAdvisor for accessibility,” the mobile-friendly web app provides crowd-sourced information, reviews, and photos of accessible locations—ranging from cafes and cinemas to parks and beaches. The ultimate goal is to allow people with mobility needs, the elderly, and parents with prams to enjoy spontaneity when going out.
For our mapping day, a group of wheelchair users and people with limited mobility set out to review various locations around Burwood, including the train station, the library, the shopping centre, the cinema, and local parks. My specific task was to review two small reserves featuring children’s playground equipment. I was accompanied by Jose, a Master of Social Work student originally from Bangladesh who is currently studying here, and doing an internship with WheelEasy.
My Reviews
St Paul’s Close Reserve: The primary issue here is the lack of accessible pathways. Although there is a footpath on the opposite side of the road leading up to the park, there is no connecting path to get to the playground equipment, such as the swings and the slippery dip. Navigating this area in a manual wheelchair would likely be impossible. Even in a mobility scooter, the journey is difficult due to the highly uneven ground you have to cross just to reach the facilities.Jacket Reserve: This reserve is much better in many ways, though some accessibility issues remain. Coming down the street, there is a significant lip to navigate from the gutter onto the footpath, which required a long trip up the road just to find a spot where the lip was low enough to cross. While the footpath itself is fine and a nice path leads directly into the playground, the gate presents a major challenge. It is very difficult to open independently, and because it swings backward toward the user, you have to reverse just to get inside. Once you are through, however, it is a lovely reserve with beautiful trees and plenty of footpaths to travel on. It is the type of space where a child in a wheelchair, or a parent who uses one, could easily visit and enjoy a pleasant afternoon.
It was an incredible experience that forced me to see things from a perspective I might not have noticed before I became an amputee almost three years ago. I also had the chance to speak briefly on video during the day, which I look forward to featuring in an upcoming episode of my podcast.
INTERVIEW WITH MAX BURT OAM
When Max Burt moved to a beachside area north of Sydney in 2011, he discovered a glaring gap in accessibility information. It took him three years to realise the local beach had a mat rolled out for wheelchair access. “And that obviously wasn’t because it didn’t… It’s because it wasn’t promoted in any way whatsoever,” Burt explains. “There was no information.” After conducting an online survey, he found that “over nine in ten” wheelchair users faced similar issues finding reliable details. “It’s not rocket science,” he notes, “and information is really not that hard to gather together if you know what you’re looking for.”
Before WheelEasy, people with mobility needs struggled to find answers. “They normally don’t,” Burt says regarding where people find information. When they look at individual company websites, the details are often “hidden away on the back pages,” sometimes incorrect, incomplete, and there is “hardly ever any use of photos.”
This sparked Burt’s vision for WheelEasy “to become a forum where people… with needs would [share] information that makes a real difference in the quality of their lives.” By crowdsourcing real experiences, the platform provides accurate, community-driven data.
The initiative has grown significantly. “We’ve now done over three and a half thousand” sites in Sydney, Burt shares, adding that they are “nudging nine hundred in Canberra” and expanding into Melbourne, Newcastle, and the Central Coast. “The idea is to one day cover all of Australia.” Following a successful day in Burwood, Burt emphasizes that the goal is not just mapping locations, but to “get them excited about the idea so that they tell other people they know who might need something similar.”
When you have some visiting from the country, and they’ve only ever visited Sydney maybe a dozen times in their life, you have to think about maximising the “Sydney Experience”, and showing them some quite memorable things. So when Michelle told me she was coming down from Lismore for a long weekend, I thought long and hard about what we could do together, and what she had already done.
Manly – done. Opera House – done. Harbour Bridge – done. “Bondi?”, I asked. Not that she remembers, so I suggested we do the Bondi Coastal Walk. I thought “Sculpture By The Sea” was still on, and that would have been great, but it finished last weekend. And lunch? I suggested the Bondi Junction Westfield. Though I know that sounds like a pretty boring suggestion, there’s a bar and restaurant called Kelly’s which has good food that’s well priced, and has awesome views, and we could go it on the way back to the city. When I explained Michelle was visiting from Lismore, the waitress organised a terrific window table.
The view from Kelly’s at Westfield Bondi Junction
Michelle is a nurse, which is a good thing for updates on the health problems of ageing family members. On the phone or Skype, you’re never quite sure how serious some of the ailments can be. But face to face you get a better insight, and you also get to know lots of the stories that never quite translate on the phone.
My favourite family story right now concerns Michelle’s father, Jack. Jack’s brother, Bill died recently after a lengthy battle with cancer. I’ve known them both all my life. Though he was in his eighties, I’ve never known Bill to have a partner. Two of ten children, Jack and Bill were not only siblings, but also close mates.
“We’ve got a problem. We can’t pay for the funeral”, Jack told the funeral director with a straight-face. “You know how you told me I needed to give you a suit to dress Bill”, Jack said, adding “I put the cheque in the inside top pocket”. The joke continued for a while, with Jack saying Bill’s bank account had been frozen. “Is your father serious? I can never tell with Jack”, the funeral director said to Michelle, to which Michelle replied, “I can never tell either”.
We also talked for a while about my fairly vague retirement plans which involve a return to Lismore. I’m reasonably sure a few of my Sydney friends don’t quite believe I’ll do it, as I’ve been living here now for thirty years.
Their surprise/incredulity reminds me of when I was living in Brisbane, and going to university in the 1980s, and then moved to Bourke in Western NSW. Memorably, I received a number of calls from worried friends, concerned that I’d be lonely or bored.
Of course I have similar thoughts/worries myself. There are so many wonderful things about city life, including having good friends closeby. But I’ll have family closeby (which can be a blessing in later life), as well as some creature comforts like a backyard and a garden. And I’ll be able to live a cheaper life, which I hope means there’ll be more money for travel. Or at least that’s the plan.
A lovely photograph, with many thanks to a kind American backpacker, who turned a simple shot into a mini photo-shoot. Very generous.
I’m not sure how I missed seeing “Dusty”, the musical about Dusty Springfield when it played professionally in Sydney a couple of years ago. I mean, I’ve loved Dusty’s music for a long time, I think her life story is fascinating, and I’m a big fan of musical theatre. For the life of my, I can’t remember why I didn’t go to see the show. And I’ve been disappointed ever since. And so when a colleague from work asked me if I wanted to see a production put on by the The Australian Institute of Music, I said yes straight away.
The AIM, in case you’re wondering is located in Sydney and “has been preparing people for music careers since 1968, and has evolved and developed into the major independent music-education provider in Australia.” If you’ve ever walked around Central Sydney, you would no, doubt, have passed their offices on Foveaux Street. With little knowledge of their activities though, I thought I’d give it a shot, and along with a few of my colleagues, we went along to see tonight’s production. And it was fan-bloody-tastic.
The musical pumps along at a cracking pace, and while it covers some dark territory such as Dusty’s alcoholism, it never becomes maudlin. Despite her darker moments, Dusty comes across as an extremely strong, though obviously flawed character. There was a moment or two tonight when I became quite teary. In particular, I was touched by the moments when Dusty and her girlfriend in the show sang songs together. There’s also an incredibly tender moment when Dusty’s mother sings the song “My Colouring Book” about the feeling of losing her daughter.
During interval a colleague commented that she really liked the way the songs came in fairly naturally. “There were no odd transitions”, she noted. And I responded, “It ain’t Mamma Mia, that’s for sure”. We all though the three leads were excellent. Overall it was a great night. And if future AIM productions are like this, I’ll be heading back.
Dusty Springfield Musical production by the Australian Institute of Music
The only other time I’ve been this cold and wet was two years ago in Sweden. Although it was summer, the combination of colder temperatures and wet weather combined for truly unpleasant conditions. I said to my friend, Tony at the time that I had never been this cold in my life.
That was still the case until today, as the glorious weather of my first week in China has been replaced by cold, miserable conditions. It’s grey, very grey.
Beijing Olympic Stadium
It doesn’t help that we can’t turn on the central heating which, suitably enough, is centrally controlled. It’s mid-November, I believe, before it gets turned on. Kate tells me a couple of years ago when she was here it got so cold before the central heating was turned on, that it was warmer in her fridge than it was in her apartment.
Thus, my first task of the day was to buy a suitably warm jacket that would double as wet-weather gear. I found one in the “clothing market” I mentioned the other day. Although I haggled over price – as is the norm in China – I probably still paid too much for a “North Face” jacket. Even if I can’t vouch for its authenticity as a genuine “North Face” product, it kept me warm and dry throughout the day, which makes it authentic in my eyes.
Beijing Olympic Stadium
I played “tourism bingo” again this morning, getting on the subway and getting off at somewhere which took my fancy: today I got off at the Beijing Olympic Centre. I was travelling throughout Europe for most of the duration of the Olympic Games in 2008, and wasn’t all that much interested in watching television. On the odd occasion my eyes were diverted to a television screen, there were often Australians playing or competing which was co-incidental I guess. So it was with “open eyes” that I visited the stadium today. And guess what? It’s fan-bloody-tastic.
Beijing Olympic Stadium
The birdcage stadium and the nearby water-cube are both architectually and visually spectacular. And as you walk around the two facilities, the games are very much alive with videos, photographs, souvenir shops, and even a wax-works museum featuring past presidents of the International Olympic Committee.
PIlgrimmage to where Australian diver, Matthew Mitcham scored his perfect 10 at Beijing Olympics
Although it was fabulous to visit the spot where Matthew Mitcham scored his perfect 10, I was completely blown away by the indoor pool/beach. When I visited there were maybe 30 or 40 people swimming, or just enjoying the machine-generated waves. Oddly enough, since the water was only a couple of feet deep, there were lots of people wearing life jackets. Many were just lying back, relaxing, and enjoying the entertainment – which ranged from Canto-pop to Bollywood – on the nearby stage. Yes, seriously. I loved it. I wish I had swimwear so that I could have joined those below.
The fake beach inside the Beijing Water CubeSwimmers on the fake beach at the Beijing Water Cube
On arriving home tonight, the cold, wet conditions have really set in. Thus, we’re faced with a dilemma: do we wait for the frozen home-made dumplings (delivered by Kate’s cleaner) to thaw out or do we venture out for dinner? Venturing out is not an option, as it’s too bloody cold, so we’ll sit and wait for the big thaw, I’m guessing.
Tomorrow, I’m off to The Great Wall, and would be sooooo excited if it snowed. Fingers crossed.
Late this afternoon I decided to take a walk up Oxford Street to watch some of the preparation for this evening’s Mardi Gras. And, since the weather was so good, it seems did half of Sydney. I honestly haven’t seen such a large crowd for Mardi Gras in such a long time, with people stacked in several deep along the parade route. There was a really nice feeling wandering around this afternoon. It was quite an affirming event, especially to see all the “young ones” getting into it. However, I’ve been to more Mardi Gras Parades than I care to remember. I also, famously, met someone and fell in love at once, and it probably doesn’t mean as much to me as it once did, all those years ago travelling up from the country for that “one special night of the year”. I also don’t really like the crowds anymore, so I’ve come home and I am just waiting to watch the webstream, instead. Happy Mardi Gras.
I felt a genuine sense of excitement as my name was called out as a winner of a “meat tray” at the Lismore Worker’s Club last night. While part of the excitement was, undoubtedly derived from being a “long time loser, first time winner” (when it comes to meat trays), I also felt slightly “neanderthal”. The hunter-gatherer deep inside my DNA was showing itself, I thought, as I was able to proudly take a larger offering of raw meat home to my family. We cooked some up for dinner last night.
It was certainly a nice way to bring to end to my current trip home to Lismore. A trip which has been a little different in some ways to previous trips. In stark contrast, this Christmas our family has had the joy of a new baby in the family (with all of the wonderful things that involves), as well as the trauma that can often be associated with rebellious teenagers in the family (and all of the drama that involves). In both cases, I’ve done my best to be supportive to the ones I am closest to and love. It hasn’t been an easy Christmas, let me just say that.
Once again, this trip, I’ve caught up with long-term friends again, people I’ve known since the start of high school. It’s hard to comprehend knowing these people for thirty-five years, but indeed it’s true. A group of us had dinner at the newly opened restaurant Club Saffron the other night. Despite the rather dodgy sounding name, and the newer-than-new service routine, the food was good, and we enjoyed each others company. We discussed the pros and cons of a school reunion, as next year marks thirty years since we finished high school. If someone else is happy to organise, I’m sure I’ll be there. My friend Sue and I also pretty much confirmed details/plans for our trip to Europe in a few months time.
Also once again, this trip, I worked from the office here in Lismore. With a job with a national remit, it’s great that I have the flexibility to be able to work from pretty much anywhere. It’s meant that I’m able to work in the office when I’m needed, but also be able to come home to visit and see my family on Christmas Day. The three work-related phone calls on Christmas Day were a bit of a pain, but it’s all part of the job I guess.
And so as I prepare to make my way back to Sydney, the excitement has just begun in Lismore. The Tropical Fruits Festival (which includes a film festival, a dance party, and a swimming pool party) commences tonight. So as I make my way back to Sydney, I can imagine Ballina Airport will be full this afternoon with arrivals from Sydney making their way here for Tropical Fruits. I think it’s fitting that I’m headed back in the other direction.
