Flanders and Swann referred to the famous red Routemaster which used to dance the light fantastic around London as the "Monarch Of The Road". Sydney's bendy buses have their place I suppose but none of them are particularly inspiring. However...
I don't know what lurks underneath that sky blue livery but I do know that this beauty wears it splendidly. I even like the big corporate waratah plonked dead in the middle. If Australia does decide to become a republic, then this would still be called the "Monarch Of The Road", for the name "President" seems so inadequate for something as regal as her.
I sort of feel sorry for the inner-city local councils. Councils like Mosman Council, North Sydney Council or Waverley Council. Their skimping back on maintenance budgets and their refusal to acquiesce with State Transit's appeal to do some gardening of low slung branches, means that by default, they won't be considered as highly when it comes to allocating these marvels.
Maybe it's the way they tower over traffic; not menacing like a semi-trailer but majestically, that makes the other traffic look on in quiet awe. Okay, they like any other bus are a machine, designed to ferry people to and fro' but I think that it can be said that although machines don't have souls, they borrow and extend the enjoyment of the people who use them.
Most people who have owned at least one motor car can attest to harbouring latent feelings of joy, even if or maybe even because it broke down (cue all the tinkerers with their British cars). Many people name their motor cars, as though their personalities demand it. I don't know if by collectively travelling in a bus, we can have that same level of attachment but maybe it's like when the Queen comes to visit - we all collectively own her.
"I did but see her pass me by, and I will love her 'til I die."
Some people experience techno-fear when it comes to machines; not me. I experience techno-joy! This usually results in the instruction manual being meticulously studied like some ancient scroll of wisdom (much to the annoyance of those around me) before beholding the machine now before me; even if it is only a toaster. I will probably never drive a big blue double deck bus and so my techno-joy results in standing back in amazement that such a thing exists.
I thank the NSW State Government for bringing these machines to us and hope that we see many many more. I wouldn't even mind being stuck behind one in traffic because one always makes way for the Queen.
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