Re: Easter Van In 2012 Photo and recap thread.

[tastig]

jealous you guys ..luv the shot of all the vans lined along the curb... we nearly made it over the water but $650 each way for two and the van was a bit rich at the time and promised my recently turned 18 year old daughter a trip to melbourne as her present.. and we have booked that for late may for the weekend footy / draculas etc ... anyhow hope everyone had a ball and we will try our best to get to the next one ...ah if only they would build that bridge..mmm

[freestyler1]

You bring the van over and the Mexican's will meet ya for a cruise and an MV get together
Otherwise we'll be about 28th October for the Vic Titles.

Cheers Al.

[Killer hq]

Lookin good gents, wish i was there! Stupid bloody work!

Mate we tried to tell you that you didn't look well and to ring in sick by the way it was good to meet you as well mate

Regards Tony.

"leave em"wanting more!

Yeah tony i should of taken you advise mate, easter at work just isn't cool, but thats the joys of shift work. It was great to meet you guys too and put a face to the name. Theres some great photos that you guys are posting, and the more the better for us guys who couldn't make it. There seems to be alot of that big shiny easter egg to ay Rob haha.

[freestyler1]

JUst a few more photo's for those of you deprived from the weekend.
The Vanners Choice went to the 'Burnsey's' Yellow Hq.

Cheers Al.

[The Zodiac]

That's an awesome pic of the Burnsey's Al.

[Rusty62TransAm]

Check out these Sweet Pics by Trevor Jackson Photography on FaceBook: Trevor Jackson Photography

Thank You for coming along Trev and sharing these VANtastic Pics!

[serendipity]

here is a few pics we took, cheers






didn't ask why !

[Rusty62TransAm]

Love all your Pics Guys & Gals!

Thanks for Sharing.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take any Pics at the Sinners & Saints SINBIN Show & Shine, but yours make up for it.

Please keep them coming.

[QUP]

I have loaded up the results with some pictures on the MySandman.com.au site. Sorry still finding my way around this site and learning how to post - I get lost! (any instructions anywhere?)

Dno has had three turns at writting up a review of the weekend and has lost all three to differnt circumstances over the last three nights (ipad meltdown, internet dropped out and flat battery). I'll convince him to try again tomorrow as he writes a good review.

[HQVAN]

I posted a link for you in the results thread in the events section.

(its a sticky at the top of the thread list)

I look forward to Dno's review...

Keep persisting with the forum, you will quickly pick things up.

Great to have you guys on board!

[highwaymenace]

well done everyone looks like i missed a great event sorry i didn't make it ( the Menace is still not running whoops ) thanks for the pics and results well done again to all

[Rusty62TransAm]

Trevor Jackson at Albury Wodonga NewsWeekly has written up another Great Story with a VAN-tastic Pic, this one being on las Sunday's Show & Shine focusing on Peter Preston's HQ Van.

Thank you again Trevor.

Follow the Link to read more: CLICK HERE!

[The Zodiac]

You know the drill Rusty, can you get me a few hard copies for my archives please?

Cheers Rob

[ERAGON]

sorry for the late pics well here we go





















[IMG]
https://2img.net/h/i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/deadmanshand_2009/c06bd081.jpg[/IMG]









wooooowwwwwwwww yea haaaaaa










for more pic check photo bubcket
https://s674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/deadmanshand_2009/

[princess77]

love what you have done with the photo of our van

[HQVAN]

There are some great shots there Chris! Well done!

[Epic_Dragon]

very awesome love the wheels on the yellow HQ, they look like rebels, but with flat faces on the spokes very cool!!

[Q set]

One week ago (was written last night), this time of the evening, a little group of vanners were huddled around a fire drum, full of home-made pizzas, cracking another beer and watching Mad Max projected onto a sheet of white paper duct-taped to a club house wall. And I was thinking, ‘this is the life’.
I’m one of the many who were glad they went. You see, it was for Hayley and myself (and Tess), the first van-themed event we had been to. We had done many a car show, cruise and show n’ shine, but the idea of a van-in was something I had only read about in my Custom Vans and Trucks magazine collection. An invite had come through to all-comers on the MySandman.com.au forum and as the date got closer, I thought ‘why not?, got to be a first’ The idea was even more attractive on calling this bloke called ‘Rusty’ who was keen as mustard about us bringing along the wagon as well.
We polished the van and the wagon, confirmed our convoy route with Rod and Jen with their Sandman’s and were on our way come Friday morning. The cruise down was made all the better by the experience of traveling with other vanners (and a Wagoneer), at a no rush pace, stop when we needed and a top day for a drive.
Once onto the Hume, the Easter traffic slowly thinned out after lunch and we had the black-top much to ourselves. We did a little lane swapping to get a few different views of our travel companions, swapped the convoy order, took a few photos…. Amongst the holiday makers, a few colourful old Holdens were barely noticed. We got a couple of waves, but it seemed like we were driving amongst the Zombie Hordes with DVD watching zombie kids in the back-seats. I had forgotten the music collection myself, so after 4 hours, Jethro Tull (my only CD in the van) was beginning to wear as thin as the ice of the New Day-ay-ay-ay.
With a few U-turns we nosed down a gravel driveway and spotted panelvans! We had come to the right place. We pulled up to find out where to camp and our little insect-splattered line-up was immediately joined by a couple more pannos for an impromptu photo opp’.
The Van-in had started! It was an easy transition, introductions, hand shakes, trying to match names with vans and subsequently forum names on the M.V site. Karl with the deep burgundy Q got a bit of help with the new Thunderdome inspired tent while we made ourselves look useful. Lending a hand gave us a chance to introduce ourselves and case out a few new vans. There was also more HQ’s! As any Qey owner knows, it is a good day if you catch sight of another Q. On this evening, there was 4 in a confined space!! Very sweet!
Saturday morning, after crawling out of the back and taking in a coffee and a fine sunrise over the lake, they fed us! Another cuppa and a casual banter round the BBQ and we were ready to head out the gate and onto our first venue, the Centro car park amidst 100’s of Easter shoppers and their zombie kids. We had a corner of the carpark reserved for a bit of show, and bit by bit, space by space, we claimed our turf. Darren (with that clean-as yellow Q) was doing top P.R. work by explaining to irate mums that ‘no, we’re very sorry, but we need that empty car-space for the van-in. Sam’s yellow Sandy, was nearly smeared along the side of a young Japanese woman trying to tight-park in a way-to-big courier bus. ‘Turn the wheels to the right! The right !!! No…the other way!!! (at this stage, she was getting panicky). Darren had dug the KT36’s into the bitumen and was ready to physically stop the van come hell or high water. A lot of relieved faces when she managed to back out without adding Jasmine Yellow to the collection of duco samples smeared along the side of her van.
After a coffee or two, we are out of there for a cruise of the town and up to the top of Monument Hill. Nearly everyone had UHF contact thanks to a hand-out of club hand-helds to be used. These things made keeping track of everyone a cinch in the traffic. We snaked our way down the main, giving the Latte sippers something to take notice of. We even got a few thumbs up from short-short wearers and old fellas alike.
We rumbled up to the top of monument hill and crowded up the car-park for some photo sessions. After a look at the view we filed back on down and off to lunch. How often do you see 4 yellow pannos traveling in a row? How often do you glance in the side mirror and see vans stretching back for half a block behind you? It was a blast!
The convoy was getting this traffic dodging to a T now. The convoy would wait to allow the back-markers to catch up if caught up at the lights, then pull out en-masse and head off again. I wished I had footage of this. It looked like the whole bunch of us had it rehearsed.
The Blazing Stump pub fed us up (and eventually Karl) and we lined up in the back car park. A few patrons got wind of all the vans in the carpark and snuck off to have a squiz. I reckoned we made the week for a few blokes.
We motored back to the campsite and took out the afternoon looking over vans, under bonnets and meeting up with M.Vanners. Al had the sockets out and was getting serious on the underside and Karl was starting to spend the first of several hours under to the bonnet of his Q. The first view of the engine bay was fairly impressive. Very clean, nice fresh looking block with a neat, shiny Holly carb up top of the lot. (ah, most of us got to know Karls carby by the end of the weekend!)
Rob was teaching Rod the finer points of WB Sandman’s, Dean had a very smooth EJ van (something you don’t see every day… week…., no, year..). I had read up on both Al’s and Karls van builds on the site, so it was good to see them in the metal. (That is one bright van Al). Sam’s van runs a 355 and is a Sandy to boot. Big rubber and a mean stance. It makes for a top builders van.
We moved on out on sundown for the light and sound show outside the SS&A club in town. Vans take on a very different persona under street lights. Tom opened up the entertainment centre in the back of the Ford with the biggest screen that I’ve seen in a van (it runs off 12 volts too). Karl wrecked the local bingo game with a bit of heavy pumping doosh and Jon Smooth also had the windows vibrating. I put on the blue-mood lights to be in the spirit. (not everyone gets to see my mood lighting…) Even young Tess had a good time trying to work out why we were all parked out so late, but she got some dancing time in.
Thanks Andrew, Kerrie, Al and all those who gave us a feed. Good chow and took the hassle out of packing the esky. Saturday night was spent catching up on old photos and yarning about old vans (and wagons).
Sunday morning breakfast of pancakes and one of the best sunrises I’ve seen for many. A top start to the day! We ran in and gave the Q and Sandys a well-earned wash and then joined the line-up for the Family Fun Day/ Van-in Show. What made this day was a top position for the vans and cars on show, plus the chance for average Joe Public to get and have a look at some classy vans. It also gave anyone the chance to have a yarn to the owners too. So while kids were returning from the 4000 plus Easter egg hunt in the park, we were sitting back wondering who to vote for under the many categories. Good voting procedure, there’s no argument when everyone is responsible for giving an award. As it turned out, it was a very well rounded competition. Karl’s van got brought to the show kicking and screaming on the back of a low-bed and it would have been a shame to have left it back at the camp. That shiny new carb was throwing up new problems faster than he could solve them.
I love watching people look over a van. Most look over the bodywork, check-out the front interior and then wander up the back for a good hard suss of the work-shop. You can usually pick the blokes that have a story to tell, or the ladies with a wry smirk of an old memory, or young fellas beginning to think ‘mmm, this thing isn’t such a bad idea…’ Yeah, Robs sparkly purple bus was providing eye candy for the under 10’s and grandmas alike.
All this planning for the Van-in came to a head with the trophy gathering and photos. Well done all !!!.
Getting back to camp wasn’t just a hop-in and cruise affair. Karl’s van was keeping them guessing. There was a small gathering of experts and thinkers combined under his open bonnet. After an on the spot clean and tune, we gave him an extra bit of battery life with a jump and then filed on out of the park. After another 3 stops we were out of town and within sight of camp. The maroon warrior gave a big side to side backfire and died in a puff of smoke. The Q refused to even click off the starter. No battery power? Alternator failure? No power?! No Spark!! We swapped Karl’s dead battery with a fresh one and he rumbled back no worries. How bizarre it is when one problem distracts you from another. It was a lesson learnt by me. (In addition to Rhinos’ quick Holly strip down and rebuild. ‘Has he done that before I wonder?’)
An offer of a good alternator came through within minutes of Karl getting back to camp. The whole camp followed him back to base (Bring ‘em all back alive!) Top effort all! Super patience award to Karl!
After a few sherberts and a few question and answer sessions with the owners of my favourite vans of the meet we settled in for a mixed slide show of vans, cars, old van-ins, topless girls on BMX’s….. Ooops’ that one musta slipped through slide-show MA clearance. … and then someone’s passing around pizza, another cold beer and Mad Max is on. I loved the cheer that went up when Max rolled out in his panelvan for the first time.
Come Monday morning, another hot feed was being pressed onto us and it was all over bar the clean-up. One by one the vans rolled out and the camp HQ cleared. I myself, pulled the Blue Yonder down through Albury and onto the freeway with some radio station playing the best of the seventies loud with the window down. A Kluger passed doing 120 and one of the kids looked out his window and gave us a wave. There’s still hope for the future out there!
Footnote. It was our first, but not our last. Hayley said she will be camping for sure next time. Maybe a back seat for the van? We stayed just down the Hume for a few days after and went and checked out Beechworth locality in the wagon. It’s a blast to drive something that bucks the trend. I guess that is one of the reason we still drive our vans. The common interest thread held true all weekend. The group was a top set of people. Easy going, free with information, good natured ribbing, free to air any disagreements, no bother to lend a hand and go that extra mile. As Russ said ‘Egos left at the gate’.
Thanks kindly to Rusty, Jon, Darren, Al, Andrew and Kerrie…. (The lot of you) , for giving a top weekend when I didn’t know just what to expect. It’s a beaut group that has established here. Whatever you are doing, it’s working ! P.S; Thanks for the appreciation shown to our Q’s, it nice to hear another’s vanners support. We might just leave the Easter Weekend date blank for next year.

[HQVAN]

Excellent write up Dean!

This gets my nomination for post of the year!

Thank you for the time and effort you have put into that review, very well done.






It was great to meet you, hayley and tess at easter, and I am really glad you enjoyed yourselves. I do hope you join us again next year, it may not be at easter as most of us will be going to the nats in Caboolture, but we will definitely be having what will be our annual van-in at Albury at some stage.

Thanks again dean, go the HQ's!

[fc59]

This gets my nomination for post of the year!

i second that mottion

[serendipity]

thankyou dean, kerri and myself thank you for such a wonderful recap, you have stated what majestics is all about,..... mateship and a good time away, cheers mate and matette and little matette

[The Zodiac]

Awesome recap Dean! Well done mate.

[The Zodiac]

One week ago (was written last night), this time of the evening, a little group of vanners were huddled around a fire drum, full of home-made pizzas, cracking another beer and watching Mad Max projected onto a sheet of white paper duct-taped to a club house wall. And I was thinking, ‘this is the life’.
I’m one of the many who were glad they went. You see, it was for Hayley and myself (and Tess), the first van-themed event we had been to. We had done many a car show, cruise and show n’ shine, but the idea of a van-in was something I had only read about in my Custom Vans and Trucks magazine collection. An invite had come through to all-comers on the MySandman.com.au forum and as the date got closer, I thought ‘why not?, got to be a first’ The idea was even more attractive on calling this bloke called ‘Rusty’ who was keen as mustard about us bringing along the wagon as well.
We polished the van and the wagon, confirmed our convoy route with Rod and Jen with their Sandman’s and were on our way come Friday morning. The cruise down was made all the better by the experience of traveling with other vanners (and a Wagoneer), at a no rush pace, stop when we needed and a top day for a drive.
Once onto the Hume, the Easter traffic slowly thinned out after lunch and we had the black-top much to ourselves. We did a little lane swapping to get a few different views of our travel companions, swapped the convoy order, took a few photos…. Amongst the holiday makers, a few colourful old Holdens were barely noticed. We got a couple of waves, but it seemed like we were driving amongst the Zombie Hordes with DVD watching zombie kids in the back-seats. I had forgotten the music collection myself, so after 4 hours, Jethro Tull (my only CD in the van) was beginning to wear as thin as the ice of the New Day-ay-ay-ay.
With a few U-turns we nosed down a gravel driveway and spotted panelvans! We had come to the right place. We pulled up to find out where to camp and our little insect-splattered line-up was immediately joined by a couple more pannos for an impromptu photo opp’.
The Van-in had started! It was an easy transition, introductions, hand shakes, trying to match names with vans and subsequently forum names on the M.V site. Karl with the deep burgundy Q got a bit of help with the new Thunderdome inspired tent while we made ourselves look useful. Lending a hand gave us a chance to introduce ourselves and case out a few new vans. There was also more HQ’s! As any Qey owner knows, it is a good day if you catch sight of another Q. On this evening, there was 4 in a confined space!! Very sweet!
Saturday morning, after crawling out of the back and taking in a coffee and a fine sunrise over the lake, they fed us! Another cuppa and a casual banter round the BBQ and we were ready to head out the gate and onto our first venue, the Centro car park amidst 100’s of Easter shoppers and their zombie kids. We had a corner of the carpark reserved for a bit of show, and bit by bit, space by space, we claimed our turf. Darren (with that clean-as yellow Q) was doing top P.R. work by explaining to irate mums that ‘no, we’re very sorry, but we need that empty car-space for the van-in. Sam’s yellow Sandy, was nearly smeared along the side of a young Japanese woman trying to tight-park in a way-to-big courier bus. ‘Turn the wheels to the right! The right !!! No…the other way!!! (at this stage, she was getting panicky). Darren had dug the KT36’s into the bitumen and was ready to physically stop the van come hell or high water. A lot of relieved faces when she managed to back out without adding Jasmine Yellow to the collection of duco samples smeared along the side of her van.
After a coffee or two, we are out of there for a cruise of the town and up to the top of Monument Hill. Nearly everyone had UHF contact thanks to a hand-out of club hand-helds to be used. These things made keeping track of everyone a cinch in the traffic. We snaked our way down the main, giving the Latte sippers something to take notice of. We even got a few thumbs up from short-short wearers and old fellas alike.
We rumbled up to the top of monument hill and crowded up the car-park for some photo sessions. After a look at the view we filed back on down and off to lunch. How often do you see 4 yellow pannos traveling in a row? How often do you glance in the side mirror and see vans stretching back for half a block behind you? It was a blast!
The convoy was getting this traffic dodging to a T now. The convoy would wait to allow the back-markers to catch up if caught up at the lights, then pull out en-masse and head off again. I wished I had footage of this. It looked like the whole bunch of us had it rehearsed.
The Blazing Stump pub fed us up (and eventually Karl) and we lined up in the back car park. A few patrons got wind of all the vans in the carpark and snuck off to have a squiz. I reckoned we made the week for a few blokes.
We motored back to the campsite and took out the afternoon looking over vans, under bonnets and meeting up with M.Vanners. Al had the sockets out and was getting serious on the underside and Karl was starting to spend the first of several hours under to the bonnet of his Q. The first view of the engine bay was fairly impressive. Very clean, nice fresh looking block with a neat, shiny Holly carb up top of the lot. (ah, most of us got to know Karls carby by the end of the weekend!)
Rob was teaching Rod the finer points of WB Sandman’s, Dean had a very smooth EJ van (something you don’t see every day… week…., no, year..). I had read up on both Al’s and Karls van builds on the site, so it was good to see them in the metal. (That is one bright van Al). Sam’s van runs a 355 and is a Sandy to boot. Big rubber and a mean stance. It makes for a top builders van.
We moved on out on sundown for the light and sound show outside the SS&A club in town. Vans take on a very different persona under street lights. Tom opened up the entertainment centre in the back of the Ford with the biggest screen that I’ve seen in a van (it runs off 12 volts too). Karl wrecked the local bingo game with a bit of heavy pumping doosh and Jon Smooth also had the windows vibrating. I put on the blue-mood lights to be in the spirit. (not everyone gets to see my mood lighting…) Even young Tess had a good time trying to work out why we were all parked out so late, but she got some dancing time in.
Thanks Andrew, Kerrie, Al and all those who gave us a feed. Good chow and took the hassle out of packing the esky. Saturday night was spent catching up on old photos and yarning about old vans (and wagons).
Sunday morning breakfast of pancakes and one of the best sunrises I’ve seen for many. A top start to the day! We ran in and gave the Q and Sandys a well-earned wash and then joined the line-up for the Family Fun Day/ Van-in Show. What made this day was a top position for the vans and cars on show, plus the chance for average Joe Public to get and have a look at some classy vans. It also gave anyone the chance to have a yarn to the owners too. So while kids were returning from the 4000 plus Easter egg hunt in the park, we were sitting back wondering who to vote for under the many categories. Good voting procedure, there’s no argument when everyone is responsible for giving an award. As it turned out, it was a very well rounded competition. Karl’s van got brought to the show kicking and screaming on the back of a low-bed and it would have been a shame to have left it back at the camp. That shiny new carb was throwing up new problems faster than he could solve them.
I love watching people look over a van. Most look over the bodywork, check-out the front interior and then wander up the back for a good hard suss of the work-shop. You can usually pick the blokes that have a story to tell, or the ladies with a wry smirk of an old memory, or young fellas beginning to think ‘mmm, this thing isn’t such a bad idea…’ Yeah, Robs sparkly purple bus was providing eye candy for the under 10’s and grandmas alike.
All this planning for the Van-in came to a head with the trophy gathering and photos. Well done all !!!.
Getting back to camp wasn’t just a hop-in and cruise affair. Karl’s van was keeping them guessing. There was a small gathering of experts and thinkers combined under his open bonnet. After an on the spot clean and tune, we gave him an extra bit of battery life with a jump and then filed on out of the park. After another 3 stops we were out of town and within sight of camp. The maroon warrior gave a big side to side backfire and died in a puff of smoke. The Q refused to even click off the starter. No battery power? Alternator failure? No power?! No Spark!! We swapped Karl’s dead battery with a fresh one and he rumbled back no worries. How bizarre it is when one problem distracts you from another. It was a lesson learnt by me. (In addition to Rhinos’ quick Holly strip down and rebuild. ‘Has he done that before I wonder?’)
An offer of a good alternator came through within minutes of Karl getting back to camp. The whole camp followed him back to base (Bring ‘em all back alive!) Top effort all! Super patience award to Karl!
After a few sherberts and a few question and answer sessions with the owners of my favourite vans of the meet we settled in for a mixed slide show of vans, cars, old van-ins, topless girls on BMX’s….. Ooops’ that one musta slipped through slide-show MA clearance. … and then someone’s passing around pizza, another cold beer and Mad Max is on. I loved the cheer that went up when Max rolled out in his panelvan for the first time.
Come Monday morning, another hot feed was being pressed onto us and it was all over bar the clean-up. One by one the vans rolled out and the camp HQ cleared. I myself, pulled the Blue Yonder down through Albury and onto the freeway with some radio station playing the best of the seventies loud with the window down. A Kluger passed doing 120 and one of the kids looked out his window and gave us a wave. There’s still hope for the future out there!
Footnote. It was our first, but not our last. Hayley said she will be camping for sure next time. Maybe a back seat for the van? We stayed just down the Hume for a few days after and went and checked out Beechworth locality in the wagon. It’s a blast to drive something that bucks the trend. I guess that is one of the reason we still drive our vans. The common interest thread held true all weekend. The group was a top set of people. Easy going, free with information, good natured ribbing, free to air any disagreements, no bother to lend a hand and go that extra mile. As Russ said ‘Egos left at the gate’.
Thanks kindly to Rusty, Jon, Darren, Al, Andrew and Kerrie…. (The lot of you) , for giving a top weekend when I didn’t know just what to expect. It’s a beaut group that has established here. Whatever you are doing, it’s working ! P.S; Thanks for the appreciation shown to our Q’s, it nice to hear another’s vanners support. We might just leave the Easter Weekend date blank for next year.

Just read this again, and honestly Dean it really captures the spirit of the whole weekend perfectly. It's not only an excellent write up but a great advertisement for what MV stands for and represents.
Bring on the next get together and here's to many, many more.

[Rusty62TransAm]

Awesome Pics Chris.

[Rusty62TransAm]

WOW! What a VAN-tastic Write Up!

Thank you Dean.

It was is a most Memorable Weekend and lots of new Friends were made.

[Sponsored content]