In 2015 my best friend Leah and I founded a project called Wheely Wacky Adventures. Leah graduated with a Bachelor of Communications majoring in television and film production. So with her technical skills, my Cerebral Palsy and our love for adventures, we decided to share them with the world.

Leah and I met in 2012 when I started college and she was a lead student in my Whānau (house). I had really cool socks at camp and she liked them, even wrote a song about them and as they say, the rest is history. We became close friends and she started taking on my cares but we were always friends no matter what. We discovered we could do quite a lot together, more than I ever imagined and that was the official birth of our mutual love for thrill-seeking!

A lot of people would come up to us in public and ask if we were sisters or make general comments, which was fine, but also made us question society’s perception of the disability world. As well as sharing our adventures, Wheely Wacky Adventures also promotes disability awareness and challenges perceptions by showing what I am capable of.

It has given us many opportunities and taken us to many places such as Australia, Fiji, a 3 week South Island road trip and America. We have been incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to travel so much and experience so many things, our favourite experience by far was getting to go on Parahoy which is a 4-day cruise from Miami to the Bahamas with the band Paramore!

Even though Leah has moved to the South Island, Wheely Wacky Adventures is still going strong and we have some exciting plans for the near future.

You can follow us on Instagram, like us on Facebook and subscribe to us on YouTube:

• https://www.youtube.com/c/wheelywackyadventures
• https://www.instagram.com/wheelywackyadventures/
• https://www.facebook.com/wheelywackyadventures/

About the Writer:

I am a born and raised young New Zealand Māori woman. I was born with cerebral palsy which affects my muscles but not my mind. I am just like any other young person who has dreams, aspirations and enjoys having fun. I am in my fourth year at the University of Auckland studying Criminology and Māori Studies with dreams to one day working in the justice system. I have a YouTube channel called Wheely Wacky Adventures where my friend Leah and I share videos of our adventures such as skydiving and bungy jumping just to name a couple. I am full of life and ready to take on what comes for me.