IT’S been 28 fantastic years but Daryl Petch is finally throwing in the towel. From January 30, 2024, there will be a new bus driver at the wheel of Portland’s arguably most recognisable mode of school transportation: the Banana Bus.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out how the bus, famous for its Bridgewater to Portland school run, got that name. The yellow paintwork is so bright it’s almost edible. Certainly unmissable. Which was the intention of Mr Petch soon after buying the bus from a friend “in about 1989”.