Van broken into on Bay Road
29 March 2005 - 11:25am
On the way down to the bay on Sunday, we were in an old 2wd van and were't sure how the new road would be, so left it about 300m before the spot that the new road branches off, at the right-hand corner, where there was a good-sized area on the left to park it.
My german mate Stephan, the driver of the van, will be spending the next 5 weeks travelling around the south island, and has a ticket on the interislander for tonight. He was gonna be living in the van and everything for his trip was in there, apart from what he took down to the bay.
When we returned to the van at about 6:30pm yesterday, practically all it had left in it were the seats. His stereo and cd's, his clothes, shoes, all of his camping gear etc were taken. They even took a cardboard box full of second hand books, his seat covers, a duvet... everything. He's still got his wallet, but unfortunately left his cell phone in the van. While we headed back for Auckland he went to Taupo to have a chat with the police there.
I can't imagine it would be climbers who'd do this, and I can't imagine any of the locals would do it. I'd also be surprised if random vandals came all the way down that road to try and find something to break into. There were a lot of visitors to the bay over easter, but to be honest it's hard to put the blame on any particular group of people...
I just wanted to find out if anybody knows anything about this, or if this sort of thing has been experienced much in the area. I'd never heard of break-ins at the bay prior to this - maybe I was a bit naive.
29 March 2005 - 12:17pm
#2
Bad luck!
Never heard of a break in at the Bay before.
There is some real scum around unfortunately.
If your mate wants to borrow some draws or gear in the SI he can contact me on mark@alpineclub.org.nz or 3288532.
29 March 2005 - 12:23pm
#3
very sorry to hear about that.
i know of a similar instance that happened to a couple of guys from palmerston north, 2 or 3 years ago. it was either easter, or labour weekend. outside types may target the long weekends (?). i don't recall what the outcome of that was, and whether any of the stuff (a lot of climbing + camping gear) was recovered.
maybe extra caution over long weekends is called for.
29 March 2005 - 12:32pm
#4
Stink!
I've never heard of break ins there, I would also definitely advise telling Mere about it
31 March 2005 - 9:36pm
#7
I think they may possibly have a phone or cellphone there but no idea what the number would be.
There have been a few incidents that i know of climbers property being stolen or being deliberatly broken over long weekends and holidays. It has not been the locals there but people visiting the locals who where responsible in said incidents . It hasn't happend recently to my knowledge.
I would definately tell Mere about this. It's likely that someone knows something and some of the stuff might turn up.
Unleashing the Fury since 1997