Cat just purrfect for the job

When Leabourn’s Transport, of Wellsford, added a new bus painted like a cat to its fleet, the initial plan was to repaint it in the company’s two-tone green and white livery.

However, the 19-seater Nissan has proved such an eye-catcher that the “Cat bus”, as it has become known, is here to stay.

It is used regularly on the Pakiri-Wellsford school run and is in demand for parties, tours, hens nights, parties and on the regular monthly shoppers’ run to Whangarei.

“It’s quite a talking point, and I’m amazed at the comments,” says Erena Atkins, who’s been a school bus driver for 20 years. “Even the college kids love the bus. I did a run recently for Whangarei Girls’ High and they specifically asked for ‘the Cat’.”
Lyndon Leabourn says that since the purchase of the bus earlier this year “it’s become increasingly obvious that we have to keep it just the way it is”.

Erena Atkins with Wellsford School pupils, from left, Teigan Hunt, Tamara Wilford, Dharia Hunt and Cory Stubbs.