All this happens in and around Otaua, Northland, New Zealand, during one of the strongest rains I’ve seen. If you’ve read the story about Surfing Cyclone Bola then you will already be familiar with the potential catastrophe a flood can cause up in the so called Winterless North. Granted that story was about a cyclone but every year when the torrential rain would bucket down into the rivers our river would burst and cause heaps of shit and chaos.
This story will crack some of you guys up … and yes it is a true story ok?
The day started with rain, rain and more rain. Woke up breathing first (good start to the day I reckon) then after the morning thing, jumped on the school bus to go to school. Our bus had to cross a rickety bridge, not that we thought that at the time as it was just a bridge … sweet! Now the local farmers used to keep an eye on the water levels as the river would rise so high that it would spill over the bridges and make it nearly impossible to get to and from home. They would call the school and there would be an announcement “Otaua bus pupils, please go to the hall”. So we were obviously peeved that we had to finish the school day early to go home….. NOT! Classmates were so envious as they would say stuff like “oh man, can we come to your place bro?”. Some of the gifted ones would be like “course you ca …’nt”. Hooning out of the classroom ‘woohooing’ and all that jazz, yeah rubbing salt into wounds so to speak hehe.
We got on the bus and headed home. Kids of all ages crammed into the bus like sardines, man I dunno how those bus drivers coped with us lot half the time, some spitting out the windows, some giving cars and pedestrians the finger, some trying to smoke out the window, yelling abuse at passers-by through town … mate, couldn’t do that now or is it that I’m just out of touch living in suburbia?
The bus diverted off the tar seal road and onto our gravel road, all the while driving alongside the river and us kids peering out the window observing the rising river lapping up onto the main road with “oohs’ and “aaahs” and “ho! look at the river bro!”. We got to the bridge and man what a sight! The water was spewing over the bridge … we were too late! How are we gonna get home? I don’t wanna go back to frigging school man! I wanna get home and have a feed and listen to music! I wanna get out on our skimmer boards in the paddock! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!
Well… the bus driver at the time must have had his own “I wanna”, he obviously wanted to get us home, or was it that he just wanted us unruly lot off his bloody bus. Maybe we drove him to madness? Maybe. Because this is what happened …
In all his great fantastical wisdom he decided that the best thing to do would be to get a ‘volunteer’ to become the next stunt man of the century. Crash course it is but you’ll be a hero young man. This stunt boy tied a big fat rope around his waist which was tied to the bus … and yes, with encouragement from everyone on the bus he slowly ventured out, first step, second step, third step … water moving quickly past his shins to the right, fourth step … water up to his knees. The onlookers silent, not breathing … man people would pay to see this shit! Wicked! I remember thinking “Geez mate! You can stop now”, and the bus driver must have read my mind because he yelled out for him to come back now. I think he must’ve had a reality check because it was one of the most insane sights I have ever seen. He may as well have taken him out fishing and used him for shark bait …. yep, I’d put it in that category!
So the hero turned around and skidded a bit losing his footing for just a moment, I couldn’t even give you a visual of what his face looked like at that particular moment as it was a mixture of horror, worry, and panic in a split second … careful mate. .. he slowly ventured back, … knees, shins, dry land! I remember everyone giving him the good old “choice bro!” and all that. He was a bit pasty looking but also looked like he had found heaven once he became part of the clan again. Wish I could have seen the bus drivers face mate, that would’ve been classic. But he did give him the big approving pat on the back like he was his own son doing a man’s thing in a man’s world.
The bus driver was stoked that the water level was just low enough for us to get the bus over and across to each of our homes. Probably thinking “Gotta get these bloody kids home” hahaha. Don’t get me wrong, the driver was a pretty alright dude who put up with a lot of crap, and all this happened back when you could chuck the kids in the back of a station wagon on mattresses on the way home from a late night out or whatever, it was just what you did up there at the time.
So cheers Mr Bus Driver and cheers Stunt Dude … thanks for getting us home sweet home!
A Day In The Life of A Bus Full of Raucous Kids on A Flooded Bridge With A Rope in Fantastic Otaua, Northland, New Zealand