The Bear Lady

Before I leave Sydney Harbour and its centre, I want to say something about the public transport we used to get there from an outer suburb.

Just about every guidebook we read advised ‘Don’t take a car into the centre of Sydney’. So, we didn’t … although we’d rented a nice Toyota Corolla, we kept this for trips outside Sydney.

There’s a pretty good bus service from most suburbs, at a reasonable price; if you took a car, you’d have to pay tolls and parking fees … and we reckoned the bus fare is about half of what you’d have to lay out for that.

Also, many main roads have dedicated bus lanes. Some even have a separate carriageway, known as the Transit-way, or T-way, on which only buses and taxis are allowed, on pain of draconian penalties. I have to admit to a smug, self-satisfied feeling sitting in a bus bowling down the bus lane at 80 kph, zipping blithely past the log-jammed commuters.

And, that’s not all. At Kellyville, I boarded a yellow Hills Bus into the city, and, on just about every surface around the driver’s compartment that wasn’t absolutely vertical, or occupied by the ticket machine was … a teddy bear. Thousands … well, a good number … of them!

A notice explained all:

Hi! Welcome aboard the Bear Lady’s bus.

We are the Bus Bears, and we like to be here to see you

each day on your way to work and back.

Please know that we are extremely happy to be here,

and are NOT FOR SALE.

So, please enjoy the journey, and have a great day

and we hope to see you again really soon.

 

Regards, Bears and the Bear Lady.

 

It made me feel good, anyway, even though I wasn’t exactly going to work.