<span class="highlight">Caravan</span> Parks security

I'm touching wood as I type, I have been very lucky having never had anything stolen, mind you, being married I've never had a grand to leave around

Gooday,
Well it does raise a few questions about the circumstances, was the caravan attended when this happened?, was it while the occupants were in the caravan and asleep?, were they at the Bathroom of the park and the caravan was locked or unlocked at the time?,
did they force entry etc.etc.

Often more to the story than than just had it stolen from the Caravan.
Apologies for my scepticism.
Cheers,
Boroma604

While the loss of valuables is a bad ting to have happen, one would ask,

Was a number of other locked vans also Looked Into/Entered by the same person?

Was anything else stolen?

Who else would have known $1000 was there for the taking and therefore make entry to the van worthwhile?

Maybe the person Knew of the moneys presence by careless conversation.

Where was the $1000 in the van, on the table for all to see, or hidden somewhere hard to find?

If the entry was a random attack then it is unusual such a reward would coincide with their actions.

Had kids go hop onto my boat that was on it's trailer and go through my stuff in there, Caravan Park staff didn't care but chastised me for daring to confront said kids and called the Police on me - go figure.

Parents of the kids arrived and they were confused with the Caravan Park Managers as were the Police but I didn't press charges against the kids given the parents response.

Later heard that they (Park Managers) got shown the door.

It does happen, I feel sorry for the lady in question as you should be safe in your own property. I guess the only option would be to install an alarm system in your caravan, that's probably what I'll do when I eventually get to Caravan stage.

cheers

We have been traveling full time for a while now and personally never come across the situation ourselves, apart from as mentioned below, but have spoken to people who have.

One couple were asleep in their van in CP at Meekatharra in WA and awoke to find a "person" had forced their door lock and was in the van but they woke and the chap ran quickly away before anything was stolen, it was an old van and the door lock was not as secure as the newer ones.

Another couple we know personally were in a dubious western NSW cp park on an overnight stop and had their windows open while asleep, in the morning they found the lady's handbag missing (found later outside with cash only missing) and a flyscreen on the bedroom window had been cut and the bag removed from the bedside table while they were sleeping.

We have two spaniels with us who would deter most van intruders, or at least let us know, but I did have an attempt to remove my full diesel jerry cans from the rear carriers, they were padlocked and had one of those SS wire security lines through them at the time and they failed dismally to cut the wire.
This was on the mid NSW coast in a small CP.

That particular night several boats had there fuel tanks removed also, so it was probably just fuel they were after.

I think there will always be mongrels out there so just keep aware and use common sense in suspect areas.

A small safe in the van bolted to the floor to store valuables is probably a good idea.

well im lucky I have had relativly little stolen from me in my life - certainly some stuff

in most cases it was a case of me presenting the oportunity

Ive learnt that while some people go to work and learn skills
others skills are taking - so never underestimate a persons ability to see oportunity
even if you have gone to modest trouble to conceal or think your too close to them its just another day

Well, this is why we go camping in the outback - to get away from people! When we travel, our aim is to actually leave all this rubbish behind - the crime, reliance on electronics, the use of modern conveniences, and all the stuff that we get wound up in, just living in modern society. It is good for the soul to get away and take a break. Going to a caravan park is not getting away from any of it, in fact you are probably closer to your neighbours there than at home.

Digressing a bit

But what is it with stealing in this country ? A few years ago I was in Japan and caught the train into Tokyo one morning from another district with my Japanese mate. We walked through a "bicycle park" at the station which must have had 10,000 plus bicycles there ranging from some el cheapo ones to some very expensive ones and I did not see more than 4 or 5 bikes chained or padlocked up. I asked my mate "why don't the locals chain their bikes up ? " He replied "what for, who would steal them ? "

I couldn't believe it - I said if this was in Australia you would have a completely empty park by 3 pm !

It's very sad that we have to chain up, padlock, bolt down, weld in nearly everything we own these days to stop some low life scum from stealing what we worked hard and saved for !


Happy and safe travelling ( and don't leave anything unattended )


Gazz

I have a safe in my van, bolted to the floor, hidden in the back of a cupboard. Often will have a few dollars in it, as well as anything thing else I don't need to have on my person at the time. I don't leave anything out in view, and don't advertise what I might have handy in cash for those who might want it. I do the same thing at home. Just as much chance of a break in enter there, as when travelling.
When I was in Alice last year, there were a few break ins while the occupants were sleeping. One occupant woke one night to see someone taking his wallet from the bench just inside the door.

There are basically two types of thieves in the world. Those who plan what, when, where and how to steal something and the Opportunistic thief who just sees something and takes the opportunity when it arises.

So we can prevent the majority of thefts simply by being careful with what we let people see, locking doors etc. The rest of them, and it's probably only about 10 or 15% are very hard to prevent and require a lot more effort.

Hi All - Fuel is getting dear, so watch your fuel containers......

Thanks people for your reply and helpful hints and yes the world is changing and we have to change our way of thinking just to be able to navigate through it and stay safe and well.

My parents have been burgled 12 times......the theif ( I think it's the same prick ) knows they're old, knows they will forget one day and leave the house unlocked again.....or break in somewhere the old's haven't fortified..

Opportunistic scum will go to great lengths to sneak in...but most times we make it really easy for them..

If I had $1000 while camping, it would be in my back pocket.........or near my head when sleeping..

A lot of towns are known for this sort of crime..............the hard part is finding ones that are good !!

It's why camping in the middle of the scrub is so appealing !!

We have been lucky while travelling but were burgled at home while sleeping - organised gang doing over the district in search of car keys and stealing cars. Luckily we woke up (the dog whimpered) and they got away with keys but did not have time to take the cars. Cost us heaps to have cars rekeyed and replace house locks! House insurance only paid for house keys - cars were to be claimed on each separate car policy and guess what - each set of new locks cost just the same as the excess!

After that police told us that such thieves do well because most people keep their handbags and wallets and keys in really obvious places like beside the bed or in the side table drawer, on the hall table etc. It usually takes a thief only a minute to find them and get out while you are asleep or watching TV. They don't want to hang around searching.

Now, at home or in the van, we always put keys and money in a strange place well out of sight that a thief would not easily find. It is very easy for a thief to reach through an open caravan window and pick up a handbag if it is visible, even while you are under the awning only a few feet away!. It has quickly become a habit to put these things right away every time we put them down.. So far so good. Lynne

All I know, is that my wife has a good hiding spot, because when she has the money I never see it again :)