Fond memories of the infamous Bertha

It is with mixed emotions that we farewell the trusty "Bertha" from Nui. Bertha has been a longtime-sidekick to numerous staff at the College, and has transported thousands of students to their various extra-curricular activities over the years. There were many stories to be shared in her memory, notably the challenges of finding her second gear and her ability to bottom out on even the slightest bump in the road.  Bertha has retired to greener pastures in Waihi, and will now be used as accommodation. 

"When I came from South Africa in 1998, I had to apply for a NZ drivers license.  That was an opportunity for me to learn how to drive a bus; while having to do the one license I could also do a bit more to get my bus license.  John Wilton and Nigel Vanner (two lovely colleagues) helped me and took me out for driving lessons.  So, we took kids on all sorts of trips, including a group of year 10 students to do the Queen Charlotte track. On the way down, there was a LOT of roadworks and Bertha is fairly wide.  I managed to dodge most of the cones, but one was in the way.  Funny how everyone in the bus talked about the one cone that was taken out and forgot about the hundreds that I missed!  Anyway, after a week of tramping on the South Island, we came back on the ferry, happy to see Big Bertha, but she did not want to start.  Fortunately Lesley Craggs (Legendary Doris and PE teacher) had a mechanic brother and he told her how to fix our transportation device."--Aletta Lamprecht