Double deca-dent bus comes home
The sweetest Taranaki old-girl around had a homecoming like no other.
The Moustache Milk & Cookie Bus came home during its six-week road trip, Mo Bus’ Biggest Office Run, thanks to a plea from local follower Gemma Alderdice.
The Mo Bus’ team parked up to sell their baked-fresh daily decadent treats at the North Taranaki SPCA Op-Shop on Devon St for one day only, with 10 percent of the day’s proceeds going to the local animal charity.
For relatively new owner operator of the1978 Bedford bus business Deanna Yang, it was a dual mission.
‘‘We wanted to bring her home so her original owner could see how we had restored her.’’
Two years back the bright yellow bus, complete with a full commercial kitchen was a retired blue and white school bus parked up in the region, desperate for some serious automotive love and attention.
The former owner couldn’t wait to see her old friend and visited the Mo team first. Yang said the reunion was quite emotional, but in a good way, with the owner impressed by what she saw.
‘‘She was quite tearful when she saw her. It brought back a lot memories and it made her want to return to her nomadic life.’’
Yang and her team found the bus ride a scenic visual delight - with the drive through the gorge an experience in itself. ‘‘The bus doesn’t have power steering, so it took a bit of maneuvering, but we made it through.’’
She said it is a breath of fresh air to be somewhere new and so far her short stay so far had been humbling. ‘‘Everyone is just so hospitable. The ladies from the op-shop have been so welcoming, they even set up table and chairs for us.’’
Marika Cahill follows the Mo bus online too and couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into a cookie. New Plymouth’s Sam CracroftWilson was rapt he got dragged along for the ride after eating one, but said Cahill had been going on about the bus’s arrival all week.
Yang said those with the sweeter tooth went for the Snickers bar favourite, but Taranaki tastebuds seem to be of a healthier kind.
‘‘Our vegan cookie, double choc chump has been more popular than usual,’’ she said.
A huge part of Yang’s moustache vision was to give back to the community and the SPCA was a cause close to her heart.
‘‘Animals don’t have a voice of their own and this is just a small way that we can help. Our tour also takes us to Wellington and we are doing the same for the SPCA there too.’’
Op-shop manager Jess Sinclair said it was amazing that the Mo team had come all that way to support them. She had sampled Mo cookies and said the day had been ‘‘fantastic’’ and ‘‘delicious.’’
The charity is especially busy this time of year with all the new kittens. Money raised goes towards a de-sexing programme and caring for the animals they currently have.