GG in Maleny

We arrived on Tuesday and found 4 other Geist vans here. It was great to catch up and now two days later we have 18 Geist vans here. Tomorrow we have another 21 vans coming in giving us a total of 39 Geist caravans plus one ring in Aussie van. This is turning into the best get together to be held with Geist caravans in the world!!. Having just chatted to Geist UK, we seem to be on the money with this.

For those that couldn’t make it this time, we hope to do it again next year.

If you’re not a member though,  you are really missing out as we keep getting great reports of new friendships, loads of fun being had and just great mateship.

We’ll have a new announcement on Saturday about where Geist UK come in to the mix with helping out Aussie Geist owners.

We’ll have the next newsletter out after this GG.

Catch you on the track.

Peter Treasure (Geist Runner)

General News

It has been a pretty busy month or so, with the auctions, LMC’s (factory) stance and hitch issues to try and sort. In all though we are heading into Christmas with what seems to be a good supply of parts accross Australia. The UK have helped out our suppliers quite a bit. We are very close to announcing that March 19-22, 2010 will be the first official FREE GG(Geist Gathering) for our members. It will be in Eastern Victoria. Members attending will also be able to vote where they would like the next one later in 2010 with an offering of $1,000 to run it. We have had a good uptake of members since the auctions and we hope more will come on board. This is a letter from one new member.

Hi Peter

My wife and I purchased our van ( XK 660 ) from the Brisbane auction, we were the couple that had traveled up from Melbourne, your answering of our questions at the time were invaluable. Our planning to buy a Geist van started back in 2006 after seeing them at the Melbourne Caravan and Camping Show, we were both disappointed when Oakhurst went into Liquidation, but still determined to buy one we had been watching the second hand market for a XK 660 when we came across the auction in Brisbane.

So the plans were made, we drove to Ipswich on the Thursday before the auction, it was a long 18 hour drive, Friday morning 9 am we were at the auction yard viewing the vans, we were only there to purchase a XK 660 of which their were two, lot 21 was only missing the decorative curtains , lot 22 was missing the awning , DVD sound system, spare tyre, Gas bottles, mattress and microwave, so lot 21 had to be the one for us.

We took down the VIN number and all other details and headed off to the Queensland Transport office in Ipswich to obtain a 4 day unregistered vehicle permit thus allowing us to tow the van back to Melbourne, later Friday afternoon I purchased and installed the 12 pin connector needed as my original was only 7pin.

Saturday arrived we headed to the auction, spoke to yourself and met Alan from Toowomba who gave us a complete hands on question and answers session in the XK660 caravan, both yourself and Alan were very informative many thanks.

The bidding started for lot 21 at $**,*** and finished with our bid at $**,***, to say we were happy was an under statement, at the completion of the auction we hooked the van up and headed for Warrick ( stopping at the front gate to get an insurance cover note with aami ). Our second night saw us stopping at Gilgandra then on to Cobram for the third night , leaving a short trip on the final day to home.

We had no problems with the van traveling from Brisbane to Melbourne and have since had a weekend stay at Wilson’s Prom.

Many thanks again Jan and Peter.

It is great to receive these good stories, and to be fair 90% are good stories. It has started a terrible year for Geist and has finished with an upbeat that can hopefully continue us on to 2010.

I’ll leave you with a little poem that I wrote just yesterday, it talks about one babys reception that might of been, if born at Flaggy Creek (where we are now). It involves a little happy banter with the local council too over a bridge that has been closed on us for the next 12 months. It is also dedicated to my grandfather who died 6 December 1969.  I hope you enjoy it.

Safe travels, Merry Christmas and Blessings on your family.

Catch you on the track

Geist Runner

A Flaggy Creek Christmas

What if baby Jesus was born at Flaggy Creek

By crikey mate, It’d be a great bo peep

All the locals, they’d gather in the hall

Of course they’d dress it up a bit, like, before a fancy ball

We wouldn’t fuss a lot, that’s just not in our local genes

As long as everyone’s comfy, that’s well within our means

Why not invite some friends around

Like Roo or Wombie and even Billy’s hound

But you know, I can’t begin to tell you, just how the Wise men would fair.

Roaming round the district, following detours that just aren’t there

“The bridge is out at Wuk Wuk”, a local cries, “you’ll have to go around”

“That’s not wise” says one of three, the King is born, just upon that mound

“Can’t we go a different way? That’ll be a solid haul”.

“Not unless you can walk on water mate, the council’s got the call”

After extra hours of travel time, the wise men would arrive

To bare gifts of loving gratitude, to the King just born alive

There wouldn’t be much more fuss than that

Maybe a barbie, then a passing of the hat

Yeah, I think God, he’d be happy too

No fuss, just a bunch of Aussies, fair dinkum through and through

By Peter Treasure – Flaggy Creek

In memory of Charles Langford Treasure who passed 6 December 1969 – A Flaggy Creek Pioneer, Wuk Wuk Resident, Bush Poet and Servant of Christ.

Geist Auction – Sydney

The last of the auctions is about to happen this weekend at Pickles Auctions – near Bankstown airport. On Saturday I will be in attendance to help potential buyers out and catch up with existing Geist owners. If you would like to attend and ask some questions, please feel free. If you are after a Geist, this is the last opportunity to get one. The auction starts at 11:00 am on Saturday 14th November. Going off Brisbanes auction, this will be well attended but a great opportunity to get a very good van at a fair price.

Catch you on the track

GR

Geist Auction – Brisbane

For anyone wanting to catch up with me this weekend, I will be at the auction of Geist Caravans at Devlan Auctions 68 Industrial Avenue, Wacol QLD on Saturday morning. I will also be inspecting the vans Friday afternoon to check for missing items etc.. anyone wanting to buy a Geist should really consider being there and talk to me on what they require. Existing owners should be happy that these vans are finally being sold as this will clean the market of any cheaper stock once and for all. I will be promoting the benefits of owning a Geist to all that will listen on the day. Hope to see you there.

Catch you on the track.

Geist Runner

Back at the Retreat

Well we got back to the Geist Retreat on Friday. It was a quick trip back down, 7 days driving from Townsville (not my quickest at 4 days) which kept us from seeing many people. A contrast to the 4 weeks heading north. We have already emptied the van and will continue the clean up over the next week in between other jobs. As normal when we come back to the retreat it rains, with 28mm recorded in the gauge since Monday night. it is just what the farm needs here and much of yesterday was spent moving and drenching cattle, going through sets of wet clothes and being hailed on (light) when riding the four wheeler. This off course felt like golf balls as my father and I were fleeing on our respective bikes.

I received a great email from David yesterday that I would like to share with everyone. It shows just what we are trying to achieve in helping other Geist Owners out that are in our group. He also shares some great new anti sway technology for tow vehicles which should work really well with Geist vans. I have asked David to let me know more after he has utilised this technology.

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Hi Peter,

I have to thank you again for your invaluable advice 2 weeks ago when things were going pear shaped with the trailer sway on the AK595. It really is an unnerving experience when you feel you are not in control of the towing vehicle, it feels very unsafe.

I would like to feed back to you how things have developed since then.

After resanding the paint of the friction pads and sanding all of the paint of the steel ball we continued on and things had greatly improved, but the friction pads would still foul up again after 11/2 – 2 hours travelling (even with the bare steel ball) and the dreaded swaying returns.  So regular sanding or reduced speeds were required.

I have received the Alko ball last week and have noticed a big improvement in the sway.  We travelled 2 1/2 hours each way with only a couple of occasions of milder swaying noticed when travelling at about 105-110 klm/hr.
Alko sent the wrong plate to suit the Hayman Reece bar so there might be a further improvement once I can fit the plate.

The territory will be replaced in 6 weeks by a jeep grand Cherokee CRD which may reduce the swaying also. I found the territory (2WD) a good towing unit on the flat and small inclines but it labours too hard when hill climbing.

The jeep has a nice feature which is called “trailer sway control’ built in. If swaying is detected it counters by applying brake pressure to one wheel.

Trailer Sway Control (TSC) system helps reduce trailer sway and improves handling in adverse towing conditions caused by crosswinds and traffic.

TSC works with the Electronic Stability Program[1] (ESP) and Antilock Brake System (ABS), alternating brake pressure to automatically correct oscillation in the vehicle trailer system.

TSC does not require any driver input. It automatically activates when needed. The ESP function lamp will flash when TSC is activated.

Thanks again and

best regards

David

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Catch you on the track

GR

Big Welcome to GeistTech

There’s nothing like trying to do everything yourself and knowing that you have some limitations. Mine is that I don’t know everything about the technical side of Geist (I know a bit, but not everything). There is someone who owns a Geist, services Geist and knows a lot more than me about the nitty gritty, His name is Andy and he has agreed to join us here regularly to answer your questions too. He is one of our discount loyalty service agents and will be looking after our constantly growing membership of www.geistowners.com . You will see a page in the GeistOwners Members area that is named Geist Tech. This is where you can post and get feedback from Andy. Members should still feel welcome to call me too. I do know a fair bit about them too, I am just not working on the Euro vans like Andy is. Go to the Geist Tech page to get Andy’s background.

GR

NEW Geist Membership Site Launched

I have just sent off the LAST e-newsletter for the old club membership in Australia. We are now going world wide and encourage anyone that owns a Geist in the world to join. We promise you the best experience you have ever had with information coming to you every week and e-newsletter every month. This promises to be the best site you will see that is dedicated to Geist caravans & motorhomes. We have big plans, join us on our journey.

See the link under the BOOKMARKS heading of this page to JOIN.