My Account
Mrs Garner at the wheel with school children from Matakana Primary.
After 36 years of driving children on the Omaha-Point Wells bus route to Matakana School, Charleyne Garner is now driving the second generation of passengers.
Now aged 66, Mrs Garner first started in 1980 when it was a male-dominated occupation.
“I would have to be one of the longest serving woman bus drivers,” Mrs Garner says.
Back then, the buses were J1 Bedford’s. Compared to today’s vehicles, they were difficult to drive and lacked any refinements, but Mrs Garner still remembers them fondly.
“The J1 was the only thing around back then. It didn’t have synchromesh, and had a crash gearbox, but I thought it was wonderful. Power steering would have been nice, though.”
It’s not just the buses that have changed over the last three-and-a-half decades. Mrs Garner was once the sole driver on the route, with rough roads and very little traffic.
Now Matakana School puts on up to four buses, with three drivers doing double runs.
Despite being behind the wheel for over three and half decades, it was never Mrs Garner’s driving ambition.
“The bus driver at the time was retiring,” she says. “He phoned and asked if I would like to take over. I had never even thought about it until then. He said come on a run with me this afternoon and see what you think…”
