Stolen Cameras

In Andamooka, SA.

Yes, it was school holidays but because hubby had the car (we've stopped here for work) I was at the caravan almost the entire time except Good Friday evening when the town put on a BBQ. I think it might have been then.

I think the engraver will be necessary, we were very lucky that they didn't take more! They would have been in and out in a minute!

Hubby won't mind an excuse to go down to the pub. :) We're trying to let people here know so hopefully it might resurface.

Why not approach an Insurance Broker and get a Personal Effects Policy to cover your replacement cameras ( or yours if recovered), contents of the van can be covered, just make an enquiry.
Hope you recover the lost ones.
Cheers Baz

Just had a look at our van policy, it automatically covers contents to $1000, better than nothing, check your van policy.
Baz

hi baz and pud
insurance for caravans only cover personel items upto about $1000.00 if it was a break-in
the op hasn't said
but it appears in this case that the van was not broken into ???????????????

are there any police in the town and was it reported

if this has taken place then the owners will have a police report number to quote for insurance reference and claim purposes

if just left unlocked ???

if this is the case the owners will have to wear it and in future use the lock before you leave system

it does not pay to trust anyone when in a town when touring the lite fingered are always looking for oportunities and adventure at someone elses expense
cheers
barry

Hi Mazcan
Agree with all you have said, but if they had a Personal Effects Policy it will cover named items Oz wide against Burglary,Theft and accidental loss, which means that if the van was not forcibly entered the cameras would still be covered.
Cheers
Baz

I hadn't heard of personal effects cover before. I will have to look into it.

We are at a low-cost campground for 10 weeks (now will have to do a second block of 10 weeks) for my husband to work on the mines in Roxby Downs. When I put up the post, we hadn't yet reported it to the police. We have now; my kids are attending the little school here while we are stopped so I made the report to the local policeman at school drop-off time (another parent). As Jarrad (hubby) is the electrician in charge of the electrical side of the new police station in Roxby Downs, he reported it when he got to work this morning. They seem to think that someone may be planning on keeping it for their own use rather than on-selling it, so we will be trying to let as many people as possible know in case someone sees it.

I've put them on http://www.stolencamerafinder.com/ Nothing for me on there yet, but maybe with time something will show.

How it happened? I have four kids that go in and out of the van all the time, and the way they leave the door open you would think they were born in a tent. We kept the camera on the TV arm which is near the front door (we've left the TV behind at our parents' house, but we still have the bracket). Both cameras were in the same bright red bag. Really easy for someone to see from outside. Really lax with security leaving it there, I know, but while I've been at home so much for a change it's just been in that spot so we could grab it quickly when that moment pops up that we want to take a photo. They couldn't have been inside for more than a minute, because a quick search would have turned up numerous ipods, kindles, ipads, laptop, sat phone ... none of which was hidden (except for the 5 yo's ipod, because she hides that from herself on a regular basis). I guess we are lucky that we didn't lose more. And yes, before anyone tells me, I know that we should be more careful with hiding things and keeping it at the front door is asking for trouble.

Can never be sure but fairly confident it was planned and targetted. Why? We've been here five weeks, and as Jarrad has the car and we are at playground we haven't been leaving. In fact, there is about ten hours in that 4 weeks I haven't been at the caravan (quite happily, catching up on some mummy time - I usually homeschool so this is very unusual to have time to myself). I think it may have been Good Friday as there was a town BBQ that we went to and there were a number of other campers here then, too. As Jarrad has been taking the car to work, I've had no car so they can't judge from a distance if I'm home by the car being here. It feels like they waited for me to go out.

The door handle and lock was replaced on our caravan two months ago (five year old swung backwards off it when she missed her footing). However, a few days ago my 9yo managed to get himself locked inside the van as he'd locked it and the door jammed. The prisoners from Port Augusta were up for the day doing supervised community service and they helped at my request to get the door open. They had to jiggle the door around a bit to allow it to release for him to unlock the door. The handle was dinted, so I was annoyed that the caravan company hadn't replaced it when we'd paid for a new one. I guess I now know that they probably had, and it had been slightly damaged when they stole the camera.

Sorry for the long post, and I agree about caravanners only carrying 'essential' or 'special' things; there's not the weight or space limits to have extras 'just in case'.

Ours is $500 - AAMI don't offer an option to increaes it, either. I might be getting some more quotes!

We'll be here for a while longer. The three cameras combined were worth about $5000, so we'll have to stay and work to earn the money to buy new cameras before we keep travelling.

This post has come at a perfect time for me as I unwittingly left my little Panasonic Lumix in my check in bag at Dar es Salaam for the South African Airways flight to Johannesburg.
The thieves they call baggage handlers in JNB smashed the lock and rifled through my personal stuff, including the toilet bag. They took the camera and left the leather case for it. This is a very common problem there and SAA take no responsibility for it, and aircraft security there is a joke.
It just reminded me why I avoid JNB like the plague but I was told to go there as I had some parts to pick up. I have not enjoyed the weekend here.
I have now registered it on the stolen camera finder website. Big thanks to aboutfivebucks for the info, but I hold no hope of getting it back.

wow , very usefull website - is there any proof this actually works ? would be ideal especially if someone uses the camera to post there there facebook page - then you have there identity in a heart beat

I've put the cameras on that website. I think it is worth a shot, and even though there were no matches, they will email me if one comes up. I feel it's a long shot, but for five minutes of my time it is worth the chance.

Alison,

I've sent the Original Posters a Member Message asking them to check this Thread.

You're a good person.

Hi Alison,
We are doing cartwheels at the possibility! Thank you so much for your honesty, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is ours.

The Canon shouldn't have any photos on it, last time we used it was at Lake Mary and we then downloaded the photos (that was 3rd of April) and hadn't used it since then. Using the lost camera website, we think the serial number was 1080302161 but we aren't 100% sure of how accurate that website is. It is a Canon 450D, with a Sigma 18-200mm lens and it is missing the rubber eye piece.

The video camera we hadn't actually downloaded the videos on to the computer since Christmas time, but we aren't exactly sure what we've taken video on the video since then, but I can guarantee that the kids would be on almost anything we took. There are four kids, who are a two boys aged 9 and 2, and two girls aged 5 and 8.

Is there any chance there is a little Olympus point and shoot camera with them, too? Our daughter's camera is also missing. It was an Olympus u-tough 6010 with the serial number H83510906

Amy

Hi Alison,
We are so excited! Thank you so much and thank you for your honesty. I'm really not sure what the best way is from Adelaide, but I was thinking possibly a registered mail with Australia Post as Cash On Delivery? That way you are not out of pocket.

My email address is admin at livinontheroad.com.au if you want to contact me. We'd like to give you something to say thank you for your honesty, because we've been so stressed and upset about the cameras.

Do they still work if they were outside? I take it that the video camera does if you could see the children. Are all three cameras there?

Thank you, thank you!!!

Thank you so much Alison.

We had given them up as gone, even though we were hoping to get them back. Posting here about it was really quite a desperate hope that someone would see them rather than any genuine belief that they'd find there way back via the forum.

Thank you again. Thank you so much for your honesty, and the time and effort you put into finding us. We appreciate this so much more than we can express,



Amy and Jarrad.