Driven to change – but you must be organised

being repairable. How to get it there without breaking my self-imposed rules?

The NBus website has a video showing how to attach your cycle to the bus’s carrier. A klutz when it comes to anything mechanical, my potential to hold up the bus and annoy the driver seemed high.

I loaded the cycle on to our bike rack and drove it to Richmond. I rationalised that this trip was for the greater good of getting the cycle usable. Hmmm. While I was in Richmond, I visited the supermarket, making the most of the car.

I caught the bus into town. On time at the Louisson Ave bus stop, the trip took exactly 12 minutes.

I thought how pleasant and easy it was to travel by bus. But the ride home was not so wonderful. A bulky middle-aged man sitting opposite me began making objectionable racist comments about four young Chinese students chattering away happily further back in the bus.

‘‘Bloody Chinese,’’ he said, ‘‘They need to cut out that f.....g noise.’’ He kept turning around and glaring at them, half rising out of his seat. At one point, I thought he was going to confront them.

It was difficult to know what to do – and, feeling very uncomfortable, I wished I were a braver person. The woman sitting behind him rolled her eyes and looked away. I decided I would have him on or approach the driver if he made one more offensive comment, but he had settled to quiet muttering by the time we reached Wakefield Quay.

I exited the bus in Stoke with some relief, reflecting that regular bus travel would let me see more of the Nelson community, both good and bad.

I used the car to get to the Giants’ first game of the NBL season. No inward bus services run past 4.46pm on Saturday, rather too early for a 7pm game. And it was raining. Catching an Uber or taxi would, carbon emission-wise, be just as bad as driving. I realised I should have organised a ride.

On Sunday, I accepted a ride to a walk with friends and remained, at least transport-wise, carbon-free.

This brief experiment taught me a lot. Without a car, life will slow down – not necessarily a bad thing.

Living outside the insulated cocoon of private transport would mean more contact with Nelson society, which will be, at the very least, instructive. Over the five days I added at least two hours of incidental walking – a definite positive for my health. But if I want to go car-free, I’ll need to be more organised, which will be a challenge.

On Monday I collected my successfully renovated cycle. Despite its age, it’s almost ‘‘as new’’, and I’m looking forward to getting out and about on two wheels with a brand new basket for those tiresome groceries.