2010 Sydney Mardi Gras: The Homo Float (sponsored by Wicked Campers)

The theme for the 2010 Mardi Gras was the 'History of the World'. Wicked Campers sponsored a group called 'Homo' who were celebrating the history of the moustache. A 4WD Delica was painted up with various moustached characters from history (Ned Flanders, Charlie Chaplin, etc).

Check out their fabulous footage in this quick 5-minute clip. The costumes at the parade are incredible!

A big hi-5 to Sister Mary who slogged away for weeks getting the float ready, gathering participants and creating dozens of sparking, hairy, and just plain hot moustaches.

Topless Swedish ladies

Thursday at work started like any other day in the office - a few phone calls, some emails, faxing to be done, a couple random requests... but at 10.30am I received a call from the Brisbane depot, telling me to 'come over urgently' and to 'bring the video camera'.

On arrival, I was greeted by 2 swedish girl's at the depot, who were topless and had been painted by our indigenous artist Nathan! Nathan, along with most of the depot staff were grinning like cheshire cats. I was given my mission: That I'd be in the car with a photographer from The Courier Mail and we'd be driving into the city to take footage of the girls (who would be flashing the public through the sun roof of one of our Wicked vans)!

Our car arrived first at Post Office Square in Brisbane (one of the most busiest pedestrian crossings in the CBD) and camera's were stealth-positioned at the go. A few minutes later the Wicked van appeared... it stopped at the pedestrian crossing and the girl's stood through the sunroof and started waving at the unsuspecting public! The reactions were priceless - most people laughed, or were shocked/ gobsmacked. After all, it was midday on a Thursday.

After about 20 seconds of putting on a show the girl's quickly yelled our expletives and lowered themselves back into the van.

The reason? A policeman proudly walked in front of the van and signalled for it to pull over. You couldn't script it any better, this would make fantastic footage! The cop was with our driver for a good 10mins, but our driver only received a $100 fine, for "Travel with vehicle with part of body outside of window". Not bad, considering what else he could've got them for.

Variety is the spice of life and that's why being a Wicked Evangelist is so much fun!

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

NEW Wicked Campers 5-SEATERS! (features of the Nissan El Grand)

Introducing the Nissan El Grand - the new 5 seater available at Wicked Campers! Perfect for your roadtrips, this pimpin' vehicle has it all: dual air-con, power-steering, CD player with i-pod adapter, table, chairs, cosy bed and a kitchen out the back (complete with gas cooker, kitchen sink, cutlery, plates, cups, bowls, frying pan and saucepan).

The new fleet of Wicked Campers are painted by Indigenous Aboriginal artists, to give you a truly unique Australian experience.

I created this video, with the help of Steph and Daz at the Brisbane depot, Ross our graphics dude, Farley the photographer and Nathan, the Wicked artist featured in the clip. Thanks guys!

Competition madness

It's towards the end of January and the New Year's hangover's seem are all over, businesses are back on board and Wicked is joining the party!

If you fancy your luck we have three competitions running in February.

Fancy a free trip around Australia?
Wicked Campers are assisting with Surfin' Steve's Australia tour by providing 2 personalised vans for the tour. Surfin' Steve is expanding his entourage and looking for a sexy assistant. Someone fun, outgoing and up for any challenge (knowing Steve this will probably involve a lot of nudity!). You have 4 days left to submit a video, letting Steve know why you're the girl of his dreams! Enter the competition here.

Fancy yourself the next Spielberg?
Wicked Campers are teaming up with Philip Island Nature Parks to find an Australian budding film-maker! Hop in your campervan, film your Wicked experience and submit the link to us! 3-parks pass tickets to Philip Island Nature Park will be given out every fortnight to the best video, whilst the major winner receives a $500 camera and a life-size stuffed penguin!

Fancy getting away over Easter?
The Great Noosa Campout is a 3-day music and cultural festival held in the Noosa Hinterlands over Easter. We have 2 doubles passes (valued at $320) to give-away. All you have to do is click here and answer a verrrry simple answer about Wicked. Aussie icon Daryl Braithwaite (one of my faves) will be performing at the festival along with other super acts including Colin Hay from 'Men at Work'. If you attend the festival in a Wicked Camper, you also receive 1 night of free camping!

You gotta be in it to win it!

Now for something positive!

As most of you all know, Wicked have copped a bit in the media recently. Since the story appeared we have taken measures to make our van safety more transparent. The most recent addition is the introduction of a 'safety checklist' (which includes major mechanical components such as tyres, brakes, seatbelts, windscreen, headlights, oil, water and fuel, as well as a road test and full under-body check). Both mechanics, cleaning staff and customers will sign this sheet - to ensure all is in order before the customer leaves on their Wicked roadtrip!

Since the story appeared we've received a nice amount of compliments from previous customers, here's a sample of the feedback:

Hi Everyone
I just wanted to comment on the unsafe vans story, which was on our local news recently. My husband and I are in our 40's and 50's, with a fair knowledge of mechanics. And we hired a van off you guys a couple of years ago. We thought it was a fabulous van. And not once ever did we feel it was unsafe or unreliable. It was a very memorable trip with NO van problems what so ever. We would not hesitate to hire another one ASAP.
Regards
A happy customer, Katherine NT

Hey you Wicked children, just got back from an awesome road trip with one of your vans! Even though the CD player didn't work (no Bowie to help us along the way!) we had a great time. AND at the end of the trip one of your workers was kind enough to drive us to the nearest train station so we didn't have to pay for a taxi. So lots of luvin' and thanks, the dreaded Canary can deem you unroadworthy as much as it likes but you're still the best things on the road!!

Best way to travel from Brisbane to Hervey Bay!! We got a free upgrade which was nice and the staff were really friendly. The van took a bit of getting used to but was fun to drive and we got loads of attention! Prior to getting the van, we had a car, tent etc.... We'd spend ages every night/ morning blowing up therma ...rests, packing/ unpacking the tent and getting ourselves sorted.... with the wicked you can just rock up, rearrange a few things and go to sleep. We would definitely recommend it!

Our adventure tok us from Sydney to Cape Tribulation over 10 days... It involved a few speeding fines, being jumped by some gay folk from Mackay and picking up some hot French girls...

and my favourite:

the trip was awesome but one month later I'm still waiting for the fotos of my picking up when I was naked.... Could I get them one day??? cheers

The Wicked Van Blues

Here it is! Direct to Youtube and hopefully hitting the radio stations soon.. Rob Imeson's "The Wicked Van Blues".

Rob is a Yamba musician who contacted Wicked Campers last year about his song, which was gaining a huge response from the backpacker crowds at the local YHA. The second we heard this song, we knew we had to share it with the world. It really sums up what most Aussie blokes think when they see a Wicked Camper drive past; not only that - but its incredibly catchy too.

The track is currently storming up the Triple J unearthed charts - the more people that listen to the song on Triple J, the more of a chance we have it hitting the airwaves - please listen to it by clicking this link (http://www.triplejunearthed.com/Charts/). Its currently #11 on the overall chart (leapt up from #661 last week) - we want it up at #1.

Congrats to Rob Imeson - you're a musical genius; and Heaven Recording Studios for putting the music video together.

Business as usual for Wicked Campers

Brisbane‐based Wickers Campers currently has 944 rental campervans operating in Australia,
including 611 Queensland registered vans currently on the nation’s roads.
Wicked founder and director John Webb said today the safety of the company’s vehicles was its
absolute top priority.

“Wicked Campers takes the safety of its fleet very seriously and we have co‐operated closely with the Queensland Department of Transport to ensure all our vehicles are safe,’’ Mr Webb said.

“We have recently voluntarily deregistered around 50 vans and are also in the process of introducing 500 upgraded vehicles over the next year. This will phase out all pre‐2004 vans in our fleet.’’

Mr Webb said he was very disturbed by reports suggesting that most of the company’s vehicle fleet had been taken off the road.

“In contrast, about five percent of our fleet has been voluntarily deregistered, which is generally in line with car rental industry standards,’’ he said.

“Wicked has almost 950 vans still on the road around Australia, including more than 600 registered in Queensland.

“It is very much business as usual for Wicked – providing a safe and fun‐filled holiday for thousands of tourists.’’


For more information contact:
Ella Riggert, Big Splash Communications, Ph (07) 3395 0772 Mob: 0411 871 451

To all our Wickedees on their summer roadtrips - hope you're having an amazing time!