I like travelling by train and do at least one long commute a week. I also like buses and have used them since I was a little boy. Just now I have hopped off a bus from Springwood which delivered me seamlessly to Hazelbrook Station.

Back when I was very young, the buses were somewhat different. The ones that I took from Rose Bay Public home were old and seemed barely able to rouse themselves once passengers had boarded and settled. I remember the conductor who issued a paper ticket from a leather pouch, the rear exit which had no door, and the mysterious climb to the top deck. Once up there the clapped-out suspension appeared to be constantly in crisis, the bus swaying like a ship in a swell.

Ascending the long steep incline that is Old South Head Rd was always a bit of a lottery, for when the driver changed to a lower gear, the slightest mistake on the clutch threatened to stall the engine. Sometimes we would wait in silence before the motor gasped back into action, the whole chassis shaking as if gripped by St Vitus Dance.

Oh, but what fun!

A restored example of an AEC Regent III, exactly as I remember it.