How do you measure what’s the best job in the world? Well, for John Curtis what he takes into consideration is not the money, but the lifestyle.
And now that he’s a bus driver? He’s happy as a clam.
“I love my job, it’s the best. Not in the way [that you’re earning a lot of money] but I enjoy it the most – it’s an easy job, there’s no pressure, no boss standing over the back of your shoulder,” he said.
“As long as you stay on time, drive safely and do the right thing by the company, it’s the best job.”
Previously, the 78-year-old worked in the corporate world as a sales manager for Hitachi, but after 18 years of selling power tools, he decided he was “sick of the corporate life”.
The then 55-year-old ditched his job in 2000 and joined a Sydney bus company, working out of a depot in Bondi Junction.
“I was born and bred in Bondi, so I knew it quite well. It was a really good job, the best,” he said.
“Driving buses in Sydney was exciting, every day is different, and it changes all the time.”
He stayed driving buses in the NSW capital for another seven years, before he and his wife Margaret, a piano and harp teacher, decided to make the move to Northern Rivers.
He took two years off but ultimately decided he wanted to get back to work, so joined the team at Blanch’s Bus Company (now CDC NSW).
He worked on and off for about 10 years, filling in for drivers and doing charter work for local music festivals like the Blues Festival and Splendour in the Grass.
These days, he still works when the festivals are on, but he’s now a school bus driver.
His route takes him through from Byron Bay to Lennox Head to Xavier (Xavier Catholic College Ballina) and back.
“It’s a very nice drive down the coast road through Suffolk Park and past the headland at Moreton Lookout. I mostly take high school kids. They’re very good and very quiet,” he said.
He said he loved the camaraderie that came with working at the Byron Bay depot, and he enjoyed driving.
Mr Curtis lives in Bangalow with his wife and described it as a “gorgeous” place.
“I’ve been on the road as a (sales) rep before and I travelled around NSW, but this is the best part of NSW, that’s for sure,” he said.
In fact, it’s a perfect place for Mr Curtis to ride his motorbike. He’s part of a group that rides once a week.
“When I can make it, we just go for local rides,” he said.
As well as riding his bike, Mr Curtis was an avid surfer, spending much of his time in Bondi at the beach. He has particularly fond memories of travelling to Byron Bay in the 1960s to enjoy the water.
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