They may be the owners of Coorong Coaches, but you will regularly see either one of them behind a steering wheel. They like to get out and about as much as possible and meet their clients. This gives them the opportunity to receive direct feedback from the passengers, and enables them to make changes and improvements wherever possible.

Jim is a qualified mechanic and has owned & operated his own mechanical business (Coonalpyn Motors) since 1982.

He is fastidious with the maintenance of the buses, ensuring that everything is to the highest possible mechanical standard; he manages to drive most of us nuts with working 7 days a week to keep on top of things. He’s always on the go, and has a fast line of thinking that has most of us baffled to keep up with him.

Gayle comes from a finance employment background and has worked along side Jim in business since 1987.

Both are actively involved as volunteers in emergency services, Jim as a member of CFS and a Road Crash Rescue Training Officer and Gayle as an Ambulance Officer.

They have three children together, a son & twin girls. Their eldest child, Andrew has finished school to commence a mechanical apprenticeship with the family business and you will quite often find Brittany & Rhiannon pitching in with answering phones and cleaning buses.

Andrew finished school at the end of 2003 to commence a mechanical apprenticeship with the family business.

Throughout the years Andrew was adamant that he didn't want to be a part of the family business. His sudden change of direction and opinion came as a bit of a shock, but his growing knowledge and grades at Trade School are quite impressive.

You will sometimes see Andrew on tour as Coach Host; he has obviously carried out the job well as there have been repeated requests for his attendance on trips.

Rowand (Driver)

Rowand has been a part of the team since 2002. Rowand previously operated the Malinong Education Department service to Coomandook Area School, but now operates the Coonalpyn to Coomandook Area School Education Department service.

Rowand also operates the Meningie Monday late service and acts as relief driver on the Meningie Public Service during school holidays on Wednesdays & Fridays.

Colin (Driver)

Colin operates the Unity College Private Service that runs from Tintinara to Murray Bridge on a daily basis. Although not officially our employee, Colin is very much a part of our team and carries out the odd charter here and there to help us out.

Leo (Driver)

Leo operates the daily service from Coonalpyn to Murray Bridge via Meningie & Wellington. He has a very early departure time in the morning of 6.45 am, but is always cheerful, even on the coldest of mornings. Leo takes time off during the year for seeding and harvest, and also works in between his bus service with his family in a manufacturing business. He is always on the go, very busy and always happy.

Graham (Driver)

Graham operates services for the Pinnaroo and Lameroo Hospitals, transporting clients to various facilities and outings.

Graham also assists both Marilyn & Paul with the collection and return of passengers from Murrayville, Victoria to streamline the process of their services.

Graham is currently renovating his ‘turn of the century home’, which appears to be quite a passion of his and his wife’s.

Marilyn (Driver)

Marilyn operates the Karoonda to Berri service on Mondays, the Karoonda to Berri via Murrayville/Pinnaroo service on Thursday and the Karoonda to Murray Bridge service on Friday. Marilyn also carries out hospital core services for the Karoonda Hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday transporting clients to Day Care facilities and various outings.

Marilyn is based in Karoonda where she lives with her husband, Don, who also comes to our rescue as a relief driver if we have an employee off sick.

Before commencing employment with us, Marilyn operated the postal delivery service in her district and also operated a transport business with her husband.
Marilyn is friendly, down to earth and always willing to be of assistance. Marilyn’s service was slow in patronage in the initial stages, but has built up to a steady increase of passengers and we attribute this to Marilyn’s ability, personality and quality of service that she provides.

Diane (Driver)

Di originally started with us as a casual driver operating the Coonalpyn Education service in 2003.

Due to the fact that Di is familiar with the various districts that we operate services in, she became a versatile staff member by filling in for other staff members and allowing them to take annual leave.

A full time position became available and Di now operates the Coorong Service which supplies various services to the residents of Tailem Bend such as Swimming, Senior Citizens, Golden Oldies, Community Shopping and Coorong Links.

Di also operates various Adhoc Services within the Coorong District, along with Charters and Footy Express.

Beryl (Driver)

Beryl operates the Malinong to Coomandook Area School service for the Education Department. Beryl has operated school services for many years, having owned and operated her own service.

Beryl lives and works on their farm in the Coomandook area with her husband, son & daughter-in-law. Beryl is actively involved in community groups such as the Historical Society, CWA, Uniting Church and has been a member of the SA Ambulance board for the Coomandook & Coonalpyn Branch for many years after serving as a volunteer Ambulance Officer.

Paul F (Driver)

Paul is our newest employee. Based in Pinnaroo, Paul operates the daily Service from Pinnaroo to Murray Bridge.

One thing that will strike you about Paul is the fact that he is always smiling and laughing. His positive outlook, sense of humour and smile is infectious.

The daily service to Murray Bridge was another service that initially started with low numbers and has substantially built up; again we contribute this to the quality of service that Paul is providing.

Hazel (Administration)

Hazel has been employed with us since November 2003.

Hazel is responsible for coordinating rosters, booking enquiries, financial spreadsheets and reporting.

She is also the organized person out of the group. Her main task was to get Gayle organized, but we think she has joined the ranks of the chaotic desk syndrome.

Des

Des has been with us for a number of years as a casual driver for our tour and charter work. He recently moved from Coonalpyn to the Adelaide Hills, which was a great loss to us.

How would we describe Des? He has such a pleasant gentle nature and is a true gentleman. He goes out of his way to be of assistance, nothing is too much bother for him, and he fits in so well with all walks of life.

The biggest problem with Des is that he is so versatile that everyone else wants to employ him. This results in a waiting list for us, but he is definitely worth going on a waiting list for.

Paul

Paul carries out tour and charter work for us on a casual basis as he has full time employment elsewhere. He also comes to our rescue at short notice to assist with staff illness & other problems.

Paul is also known as Poobah, which is a name that was devised by a local toddler that couldn’t pronounce his Christian name and surname. The nickname has stuck ever since.

Paul enjoys the long distance and extended charter work, and is game to give anything a try, including trying peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for a group of American Girl Scouts. There was a catch though, they had to try vegemite sandwiches in return – the facial expressions were similar.