It was just six months ago when Neil and his partner decided to invest in a campervan to enjoy retirement and be able to get away more with their dog Maia.
But a “mindless” act has left the couple reeling after someone broke in, stole the campervan, and burnt it out in a Hira reserve.
It was a large Elddis Encore 275, and after a few trips around the South Island they had decided they would put it on the market as it was too hard to get in and out of their steep Atawhai driveway.
So Neil, who asked not to have his surname used, began parking it at the bottom of the driveway on SH6 Atawhai with a for sale sign. He had also advertised it on Facebook.
Each night before turning in, he would do the usual security check to make sure everything was locked up, including the campervan.
He knows it was locked last Wednesday evening as he checked it around 7pm. However, at 4.30am police knocked on his door informing him that the camper had been found burnt out in the Hira Reserve.
“I was shocked, I didn’t really take it in too much. They showed me photos at the time but I was just a bit gob-smacked.”
He recalls Maia did bark once during the night, which was unusual, but it was just one bark so he didn’t think too much of it.
“I’m normally a light sleeper but I just didn’t hear anything.”
Fire and Emergency shift supervisor Simon Lyford says they initially responded crews from both Hira and Nelson to reports of a car fire around 3am last Thursday.
When the crew from Hira arrived at the scene, right next to their station, they stood down the Nelson unit as the fire was mostly out.
Neil says he and his partner feel violated knowing someone was snooping around and stealing their vehicle.
“They would’ve had to break in and start it... I do hear quite a bit with the cycleway and young people walk along there and chatter sometimes, but this night I never heard a damn thing.”
On Thursday morning Neil and his partner went to the Nelson Police Station to make a statement before heading out to the reserve at Hira to see if anything was salvageable. But with a full tank of diesel in the camper, all that was left was a little bit of steel and a pile of ash.
“I wouldn’t say I’m used to shock. I do handle it pretty well, but when we went out and saw it I was pretty bloody emotional, we both were when we saw it.”
He says, while most of the valuable items had been removed for the sale, the pair realised their good sleeping bags were still inside.
“I don’t know, there might’ve been other little things but there were gas bottles and things they could’ve pinched before they burnt it but they didn’t, it was just some bloody thrill seeker.
“You just don’t think these things are going to happen. I don’t want this to go by with people not knowing anything about it, it might make people aware, or remember something, or be more cautious with their vehicles.”
A police spokesperson says investigations remain ongoing. Neil would like to offer a reward for any information that leads to the offender being found by police. If anyone has information or CCTV footage, please call 105 and quote file number 231005/9761.
