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The Trailrider makes Mount Maunganui accessible for all.

The TrailRider makes Mount Maunganui accessible for all. Photo by Jamie Troughton.

Solving problems: making The Mount accessible

Debbie Griffiths discovers a community solution that allows anyone to access Mount Maunganui.

It’s one of New Zealand’s most recognisable landmarks, climbed by around a million people every year. For Tauranga’s Amanda Lowry, Mount Maunganui was a three-times a week walk with her partner and daughter until the accident 12 years ago that nearly claimed her life.

“I dove off my surfboard without my hands up,” she explains. “I hit a sandbar and broke my neck.” It was just six days after the birth of her daughter Ziggy, a sister for three-year-old Lola.

“I was a kitesurfer, a real water sport girl, and being on the water was just what I did. I went from being an active, six-foot tall wāhine to a high-level tetraplegic. When you are able bodied the world rolls out in your favour, and you never consider that there’s another way of being. Suddenly I was in a different group where people don’t know how to treat you or what to say.”

Amanda Lowry uses the Trailrider in Mount Maunganui.
Amanda Lowry uses the TrailRider in Mount Maunganui. Photo by Jamie Troughton.

Twelve weeks after her injury, Amanda was back home and had to find a new way of being in the world.

“Wheelchair rugby was a game changer for me and my whānau,” she says. “When you roll into a space where everyone is on wheels there’s a sense of community and belonging. In my rugby chair I feel so free, I can’t tell where I stop and it starts. My kids got to see that mum wasn't the only one in a wheelchair. Wheelchair rugby helped us all make a new normal.”

Amanda Lowry with whānau in Mount Maunganui.
Amanda Lowry with whānau in Mount Maunganui. Photo by Jamie Troughton.

With a desire to ensure everyone has access to a good life, Amanda took on an advisory role with Tauranga City Council, becoming the first to try the TrailRider in 2022. 

“In the TrailRider, you’re surrounded by kaiaraki (your guides), they are with you on the journey,” she says.

It had been six years since Amanda had climbed Mauao. The views were ‘incredible’ and reaching the top was an emotional moment that she describes as ‘a gift’. 

“I had a cry and a cuddle with my family. It was so special to be with all of them up there, I didn’t think I’d ever have that chance again.”

Reaching the summit of Mauao was not something Amanda Lowry thought she'd do again.
Reaching the summit of Mauao was not something Amanda Lowry thought she'd do again. Photo by Jamie Troughton.

The TrailRider was invented in Canada and is one of only three in the country. It has two arms for people to guide, one wheel under the seat and a motor, operated with an accelerator and a brake. A team of three is required for operation.

Amanda is now passionate about getting everyone active.

“I think people assume they have to be disabled to use the TrailRider, but the more people who use it, the better,” says Amanda. “For example, if your gran can no longer climb the Mount, she might want to go in the TrailRider so she can celebrate her 80th at the summit.”

The TrailRider means that anyone with mobility issues can now access places that they previously couldn't.
The Trailrider means that anyone with mobility issues can now access places that they previously couldn't. Photo by Jamie Troughton.

The TrailRider is for all the community; anyone with limited mobility. It’s free to book online for three-hour intervals or in low season, you can book it and take it away for up to a week.

“While the TrailRider allows us to access the natural environment again, it does more than that,” says Amanda. “It truly connects people and gives you a sense that nothing is impossible.”

Story by Debbie Griffiths for the Autumn 2025 issue of AA Directions Magazine. Debbie Griffiths is a Bay of Plenty-based freelance writer who regularly contributes to AA Directions Magazine.