73 Double Decker Buses

In the drought rusting seems to go more slowly. The old cars that country dwellers like to accumulate in neat rows or untidy piles take a breather from their slow browning process during drought. The bush applauds this by folding back its green curtains just a little to display the proud wrecks a little more clearly. The pinnacle of wreck collection must be a Double Decker bus and in the case of Richard Branson it was a fleet of buses that started him off. Now he collects planes that hopefully aren’t wrecks, at least when I fly on them.

It is a strong conversation mover to have a Double Decker in the home paddock. You can only talk about the weather for an hour or so but when it gets to a bus the rules are different. By the time you have admired the outside, checked out the tiny engine, sat on the top deck to take in the expansive view with a coffee and then a beer or two, the hours have flown.

We had one that we could see from the bedroom window. It had been parked for years on a small hill completely devoid of trees so it could be seen in all its glory. It never blew over in the strong winds or sank into the ground when it rained. It just stood patiently waiting for passengers who wanted to go to Coogee Beach, the destination advertised on the front wind-over display. It must have eventually got bored or found a passenger because it disappeared. Maybe the owner had run out of people to share a beer with.

The bus had only been gone for about two years when new owners moved into the Chook Shed about a kilometre further down the valley. It wasn’t really a chook shed but with its fairly basic grey corrugated iron front and roof it could have been. They brought the usual collection of outside display items that invariably accompany newcomers, and amongst their wrecked cars and ancient trucks, there was a Double Decker bus. It was a different colour from the first one and hadn’t been painted for centuries so had to be a different bus. It was also without signed destination. Somehow without a sign it wasn’t worth a second look and could just crumble away quietly. Its terminus was Creewah. I don’t need a bus because I have my tractor.