After Brisbane

I've told you about the Brisbane show but not afterwards. Once we had everything cleaned up I managed to visit a few people that I really needed to, one in particular was Wendy at Viking Kayaks as we had never personally met. The whole process of taking the Viking Kayak around Australia to all the shows was done via email and Geist staff. Well finally we met and I was very impressed with the factory setup and the professionalism of this whole outfit. The kayak we have been carrying has started to look a bit tired, mainly because of the conditions I have put it through and an unfortunate accident with the kayak coming off the roof. With the new kayak, a Profish 45, the kayak is set up for what I really love, FISHING!!! It is a single kayak so Rachel will have to do solo voyages but it is even better in its features, full kill well, live bait well, sounder casings and heaps of rod holders. Of course you can still put on the motor(which I have) and troll for the perfect skippy, bass, or Barra.
Made from Polyethelene it is a rigid but flexible kayak that I know takes extreme conditions very well. Michael was working on a big 7 metre cat mold when I was there, to be made from the same materials as the kayak. This should be light and fast!! Go to vikingkayak.com.au for more info on the 11 models on the market.

I also caught up with Gary from Prestige Caravan Repairs on the Sunshine coast, Gary and I first met at the Sydney show and he is a top guy. Very honest and particular on the quality of van he services. I have been meaning to recruit him as a service agent for some time but had to view his set up and tick some boxes first to qualify him for the agency. Well I can confirm he is now a Geist Agent so if you are in the Sunshine Coast area or Brisbane for that matter then pop into see Gary at Forest Glen. He's in the phone book and also has the agency for Dometic and Thetford.

From there on Rachel and I headed north to Rainbow beach where we had a break for the weekend, having not had a break for some time. Rainbow beach is our step off point for our big trip this coming week and I wanted to test my fishing skills and catch up on some R&R before this last week of hectic cleaning up prior to our 2 week break away on Fraser Island. Rachel came with me for a fish and I got her some live worm to help out a bit whilst I tried some frozen pilchards on my new big rod to test my tailor ability. Well it was clear pretty quickly that live worm was the thought of the day for 3 dart and two whiting that cruised past whilst the tailor must of been full of Pilchards already as I failed to get a bite. The following day Rachel retired to read more of "the Stockmen" by Rachael Treasure whilst I tried the last of the live worm, alas today the whiting and dart were full too! So for the weekend Rachel caught the fish I wanted to and read a great book whilst I tried too hard to get my fish runs on the board and suffered with a sore back all weekend. I did get a massage on Saturday though which made the pain more bearable. Today I am feeling a bit better but need to be on my toes this coming week when the competition heats up with my best mate David and his father inlaw when we hit the beaches of Fraser Island for two weeks, starting Saturday.

whilst we are at Head office in Maryborough we are catching up on paperwork and obviously this blog but I have had some problem getting on to edit the blog this last week or so but seem to have fixed it. It helps when you change a password to remember what it is, apparently.

I'll try and update whilst on Fraser, all enquiries for Geist should be directed to 1300 1 GEIST or call Dougie, my Geist Direct partner in NSW on 0413 180744 who offers great service too!

I'll be back after the 7th of July, with many fishy tales to tell, no doubt.

Brisbane Show

With a "blast" is one way to describe the start and finish of the Brisbane caravan and camping show in the heart of Brisbane, at the RNA showgrounds. With ten vans and two motorhomes set up for all to see the response was incredible. It is clear to see that weight and fuel economy is the prime thought in peoples minds at the moment. Honeycombes Caravans and Motorhomes in Townsville, Johnnos Camper trailers in Maryborough and Geist Direct teamed up to put on a fantastic crew to show the huge 80,000 plus crowd that arrived over the 7 days. We also had the continuous crowd puller, the Volkswagen Touareg and Viking kayak. In no time flat we had good sales coming out of the Brisbane show, in fact Australia wide over the last two weeks we have had record sales for Geist caravans and motorhomes. Mostly attributed to Geist Direct's online presence and of course the Brisbane show. Whilst at the show Tania Kernaghan was performing so I took Rachel's new books in from Rachael Treasure and had Tania sign them. It was great to meet Tania and have a quick chat on the quality of the books Rachael is putting out and my Rachel is thoroughly enjoying (reading the Stockmen at the moment). Also caught up with David and Judy Muller who own an XK 630. These people have a great new invention for packing your hoses away when travelling in your caravan. Go to www.thehosebag.com.au to see more on this great little invention. David and Judy gave me a ride to the show each day whilst the Volkswagen was on the stand. Also caught up with David and Di who are nearly at the point of buying a Geist. I first caught up with them in Melbourne and really enjoy there company.

Well all the big shows are over for the year and Brisbane and Sydney were the best shows for Geist. There are some regional ones in NSW but the next one you will see me at will be in August for the Mini Adelaide show over three days 1,2 & 3rd of August.

Maitland to Brisbane

As we headed north we found the warmth return to our bodies, it was beautiful to feel the special Winter warmth of Queensland as we crossed the border. It was a shock to our system then when it bucketed down with rain on Wednesday, Thursday in Noosa and Friday, Saturday, broke briefly on Sunday and then dropped everything it could on us on Monday whilst in Brisbane. So the sun was welcome today on Tuesday. It still feels good to be back in Queensland though, we have enjoyed Tassie, NSW and Vic over the last 2 weeks, yes we have travelled four states in two weeks. Our only day off in that time was spent inside keeping out of the weather. Highlights over the last week or so is meeting with Mark and Carmen who bought a Geist Phantom RB motorhome off me on Wednesday and had it delivered on Friday, fantastic effort from our service guys Cameron and Lindsay in Maryborough who added all the extras in just one day, I hope I can at least share the carton of beer I owe you Cameron now I have given you a plug on the blog. Also well done to Pat and Janet who flew down to Brisbane to go through an AK560 and decided it was for them on Saturday. I am sure your big trip will be just one bit better with this great Geist family model. Saturday night was a fun night when the four of us went out for a few drinks to celebrate down at Southbank. The days in between were spent getting the Brisbane show ready to roll tomorrow. Cleaning 10 caravans was quite a task for myself and Wayne, but it was good to have them finished by Monday night. Today was spent putting up signs and finalising the whole look of the stand. Tomorrow we are ready to see all the Queenslanders, so if you are in the area, please drop in and say hello. The show is at the RNA showgrounds in Brisbane from the 4th to the 10th of June.