Thursdays are 102-year-old John Leisten’s favourite day.
He sets his alarm and waits for the Transitcare bus to pick him up from his home on Tamborine Mountain and drive him to Helensvale train station for his weekly trip out.
“I look forward to Thursday because it’s the only time I leave the house,” he explained.
“I get pretty depressed because I can’t read at all. My hands are not good, and I get very muddled about things. But I’ve got good legs; walking is my strong point.”
John and his wife, 89-year-old June, began using the Transitcare bus when the service started in 2021.
They have lived on the mountain for almost 31 years and had hoped for a bus service since moving here.
Unable to drive or tackle the hilly roads on the mountain, the Transitcare bus service has become John’s lifeline to the outside world, and he spends his days using Google to prepare and plan his walk each Thursday.
In the summer he gets the 6am bus and now in winter he’s getting the 8:30am bus.
“I’ve been to Brisbane two or three times -the Brisbane River and the Botanic Gardens, the University of Queensland and New Farm. I’ve gone as far as Currumbin along the beach. All of that is possible when I catch the 6am bus,” John said.
“It’s very important. It makes an enormous difference to our quality of life.”
“To both of us,” agreed June, as she’s able to go out with Tamborine Mountain Community Care Association on their bus and know she’s not leaving John home alone.
John said some days the bus is full, and a car has to be put on to accommodate the additional people.
John is keen to share his story which has been included in a submission being put together by Tamborine Mountain Rotary to extend the Translink weekday bus service to weekends.
He said he sympathises with those who need the service on a weekend.
“There are many who are working during the week and would like the same privilege I have during the weekday,” he said.
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