No rest for the Wicked

Been a busy week in the life of a Wicked Evangelist this week! Over the weekend Sister Mary, myself and Nathan flew down to Melbourne to show-off our new Wicked 5-seater vans. They were super impressed with the re-vamp to the Wicked fleet... I guess the biggest surprise for us was the amount of the 'older generations' who totally dug the vans! The grey nomads have noticed a big difference in the amount of Wicked vans they see on the road. They too were impressed with the Ultra 5-seaters, but quietly stated that they preferred the old beat-up Mitsubishi's they said they had character - I agree.

With a boozey 'Ocean' theme party held for all Travel Industry staff on the Saturday night, it was a struggle to back it up on the Sunday, with most exhibitors crawling into their stalls at 9.55am (the day opened at 10am). No rest for the Wicked though, last night (Weds) we had a table of 10 booked at the Backpacking Qld Masqerade Ball...our table took advantage of the free booze a little too much. And that's all I'll say about that!

There have been quite a few sponsorship/cross promo vans that have gone out this week -

Somewhere near Tapachula - A group from the States who are travelling around the east oast, promoting their documentary/movie called 'Somewhere near Tapachula' - this is based on the important work of an orphanage in Mexico, the orphanage reaches out to kids by teaching them surfing. The guy's will be getting their van painted in a Mexican theme at the movie's premiere in Sydney Harbour.

The Be Love Bus - A group of girl surfer's/film-makers/musicians from the States who are also travelling the east coast, raising awareness for the 'Keep A Breast' foundation.

Entirely World Famous - This is a NZ version of the 'Best job in the world'. Nicquel from Australia was the lucky winner of a 3 month holiday around New Zealand. She'll be filming and blogging about her experiences here.

We wish all these groups many fine memories (and a few regrets) on their roadtrips!

Save $$$ - book direct!

Phew, been a busy week and will continue to be in the coming weeks! My fellow Wicked Evangelists Mary and Nathan will be joining me at the Melbourne Adventure Travel and Backpackers Expo this weekend (Feb 20 & 21), being held at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton. Wicked Campers are giving away a 7 day roadtrip during the expo, will show-case the new El Grand (which is to be painted by our terrific indigenous artist Nathan at the show) and will be discussing the topic 'Drive yourself around Australia', a 30min presentation about The Great Australian Roadtrip. The discussion is held at 12.30pm daily. Entry to the expo is $5 at the door, or if you'd like free entry just print this voucher.

Speaking of saving money, we've also been focussing on creating more direct bookings. You can save a lot of cash by booking your campervan and travel arrangments directly, and to help out we've created a 'Discount' page on our Wicked Campers Facebook page. If you're travelling in a Wicked Camper, you can save a crapload of money by booking with our fellow travel partners. To check out the discounts on offer, visit our Facebook page and click the 'Discount' tab.

Mary is organising a float for this year's Mardi Gras which features a Wicked Camper as the centrepeice. The theme of her float is 'HO MO' - a group for homo's celebrating everything that's queer, especially the moustache! It's a fabulous concept and she's currently recruiting folks who'd like to join HO MO in Sydney on February 27. If you're interested, click here.

Signing off from the Broome depot - will be back in Brisbane tomorrow!

The Wicked Van Blues - by Rob Imeson

Here 'tis, direct to YouTube - Rob Imeson's "The Wicked Van Blues". This track will have your feet stamping in to time! I think we're the only campervan company that has had a song written about them - a real honour. I guess it shows that the joy of being in a Wicked Van is not only related to the van itself, but the culture and fun it creates.

Vote for Rob Imeson's "Wicked Van Blues" on Triple J's Unearthed - http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Artists/View.aspx?artistid=32343

"The women flocked to us like the salmon of Capistrano"

Received this corker of an email from a previous hirer in New Zealand.

The email subject was Wicked Campers NZ: Disappointed.

Dear Wicked NZ,

I recently partook on a legendary road trip, nay, an odyssey in a Wicked campervan from 27/11-14/12. The trip exceeded expectations. It was a trip where the beer flowed like wine, and the women flocked to us like the salmon of Capistrano.

However, something disconcerting has occurred that must be brought to your attention. My five companions and I decided to save approximately $20 and take Wicked up on the "naked special". While the $20 was well worth our combined dignity, I am extremely displeased not that a photo was taken on such a brisk morning where your female employees may have gotten the wrong impression, but that this photo has not been posted in the photo gallery nearly two months later. I ask that you please address this problem at once.

Cheers