Brian Cotter and Joss Dippie turned up to a friendly neighbourhood Christmas Party on boxing Day dressed for the member's stand at Ellerslie, and a long story about why they didn't get there.

The pair of 86 year olds dressed up for the seniors Fashion In the Field after receiving the invite to attend and to meet up with a granddaughter fresh out from England.

Brian and Joss, dressed for the member's stand. Picture: supplied.

Brian was going to drive in his bucket list red Volvo convertible, but Joss's daughter booked them on the Naked Bus leaving at 7am.

They waited for 40 minutes before the bus arrived outside the Bayswater Retirement Village in Mount Maunganui.

It struggled over the Kaimai range with about 40 people on board, says Brian, and went down the other side with a screaming gear box that finally expired some two km short of Te Poi at about 9am.

More than an hour later a mechanic arrived from Rotorua and confirmed that it was the clutch that was broken, he couldn't fix it on the side of the road, and that another bus would be required.

Brian, who was in his home country, phoned the Te Poi Tavern to inform them of 40 'lost souls”.

Brian and Joss and a ‘lovely young couple from Dunedin' took advantage of the tavern's cordial invitation while the one hour wait for the replacement bus turned into a two hour, then three, and finally five hour wait.

After enjoying the hospitality of the Te Poi Tavern, well watered and fed, with Brian entertaining some locals with funny tales about goings on in around Te Poi years ago, the bus arrived to pick them up.

A shuttle had been dispatched from Hamilton an hour earlier to take the passengers going south from Hamilton.

But instead of heading north for the last race at Ellerslie, it headed back over the hill for Tauranga

'What's going on?” the driver was asked. ' ‘Oh we have to go back to Te Puke to pick up a double decker bus and THEN we take you up to Auckland'.

”No thanks” says Brian. 'You go right past the gate at Bayswater. We are going home.”

More than eight hours after leaving Mt. Maunganui Brian and Joss were back where they started. No races, no fashion show, no granddaughter.

Naked Bus was called but their media person is out of the office today and is uncontactable.