Champstar Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 May I add to the growing list of people wishing you the best...I have never been abroad in my van...maybe I will delay it again for a while....but dont give up a great way of life for some mindless idiots. All the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi again guys and thanks for your thoughts and best wishes, I'm really touched and appreciate it. It is still, as has been said, going round in my mind a lot of the time, and will do so for a long time yet I'm sure - I'm trying not to dwell on it but it's been difficult today, having to deal with the insurance company (that's a whole other story!) and get someone to look at it to give us a quote for them. I've also been trying to do a patch up job on the large dinette window with a large sheet of perspex and some no nails/silicon type stuff so at least it is secure and, if we wanted to, usable. I've also screwed the catch permanently closed so even if someone managed to get their hand through the broken panes to it, there's no way they'd open it. Everything is well covered with gaffer tape to keep the moisure out, below are photos of some of the damage ... as ET would say 'Ouch'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 The main think is that your are all physically OK. the damage may appear shocking, but looks a pretty straight forward repair. apart from window surround which may be a bit of a wait if a Rimor item..... but probably repairable by a decent bodyshop. the windows are normally not difficult to source *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohgrandma Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Mel, So sorry to hear of your dreadful experience, Sincerely hope you will soon feel better, How frightening it must have been for you, Well, the photo's tell the story dont they? of these mindless idiots, Wish you well, and hope you will be "back on your travels"very soon, Ria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tp002c784tp002c784tp Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi Mel Sorry to here about your trouble and I no the way you may be feeling, A few years ago on holiday in Evesham we had our genarator stolen one night whilst watching the tele and all of a sudden it went quite the wife said looks like it's run out of petrol I said imposible and casualy looked for the big torch and found the Scrots had dragged the genarator under a hedge in to the next field before they switched it off then escaped on a motorbike, it spoilt our holiday that year but we carried on with our much loved holidays in our Motorhomes. Last year we got caught in the floods on the same site and lost our motorhome as it was a write off, We now have a nice new shiney Motorhome and we will still be going to the same place this year. Keep your pecker up and don't let them win stick two fingers up to them or one and carry on with your Motorhome Fun, We have Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Mel, If you post an address of the place we'll all avoid it. LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 It can happen anywhere, we had to quickly depart Calstock in cornwall as what I discribe as a street riot headed towards van, we left in a hail of bottles and glass', I have found Dutch people to be no better or worse than any other people. I mean, I was out till after midnight on monday making temp repairs to farm barn doors that had been ripped off and several hundred pounds worth of parts stolen >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I'm not surprised that you're still shaken Mel, the dreadful shock that you both had will take a while to get over. When you sort yourselves out, get those "reversing sensors " fitted up as "intruder approaching" warning. I'm sure those louts had a look around first before attacking the motorhome. You can set the volume on maximum to frighten them off if you want to avoid a confrontation. Chin up.........both of em ! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Mel B, I have a further suggestion, it's a procedure that I would carry out straight away. Find the name and address of the Town Mayor or what they are called in the area you were camping at. Explain with pictures all that you have said here including the non interest of the police. (If you cannot then pass me the town and Aire name and address and I will ask for the officials names and send you). Ask for a written reply to your comments, tell them this is being publisised in the UK and suggest the Aire be closed and that you are advising all uk visitors to avoid the area. LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi Libby I realised whilst munching my tea that I hadn't named the place! It was Millingen Aan De Rijn, south east of Arnhem and to the east of Nijmegen, the place was: Gemeente Rijndijk 6 6566 CG Millingen a/d Rijn I was already planning to do as you've suggested and contact the Mayor once I've got the insurance etc progressing - I've got an email address bur haven't yet managed to find a name. I'm also going to contact the Netherlands camping forum site, where we got the information from, just in case some other people look at their site for info on where to stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Mel B, I have a good contact in the City of Nijmegen who will find any information that I ask of him should you not be able to. LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 libby - 2008-06-04 10:39 PM I have a further suggestion, it's a procedure that I would carry out straight away. Find the name and address of the Town Mayor or what they are called in the area you were camping at. Explain with pictures all that you have said here including the non interest of the police. (If you cannot then pass me the town and Aire name and address and I will ask for the officials names and send you). Ask for a written reply to your comments, tell them this is being publisised in the UK and suggest the Aire be closed and that you are advising all uk visitors to avoid the area. LB Excellent stuff Libby! I am also happy to offer my professional services in this matter. Once the criminals are rounded up I will be more then happy to officiate at their sentencing and I recommend a very short sharp shock - in the form of a good old fashioned long drop or terminal neck streeeeeeeeeching exercise. Some may be a bit squeamish at the thought of this, and it can be a bit messy with the yelping and screaming and the little blighter's defecating all over the place...... But! best to dispatch these little bu**ers as quickly as possible. They are on a downward spiral - unlikely to be their first offense but it could be there last.............. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 so JM, you dont vote lib dem then (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Sorry to hear of the attack and like many people have already said the main thing is that you weren't physically harmed. Despite rantings in the Daily Express and Mail we're not the only country to suffer from yobs wearing hoodies (watch the Euro finals later this week) and i would hazard more than a guess that you were targetted because of the Brit number plates. Don't give up to these scum and keep enjoying what is a hugely enjoyable pastime/way of life and please keep in mind that 99.9% of people we meet along the way are helpful, interesting and not like the Dutch couple. Remember the good times you've had and i'm sure they'll out weigh the bad. Hopesy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 seeking official addresses im Millingen on Rheine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 My Millingen contact is with friends in the north of NL today. We will talk later this evening LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Mel, I have just read through all the posts on your thread, and know you will not let these idiots get you down, but it has been reassuring to read the offers of help and support from the forum. Keep us all posted as how this develops, will definitely give Holland a miss. It just makes me sick when someone like yourselves who work had all year and look foward to a couple of weeks away and this happens. It can only get better. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 I've dropped the Netherlands camperplaats forum/website an email tonight to alert them to the problem at Millingen aan de Rijh, whether or not they'll respond I don't know, but I'll not hold my breath. I just hope that no-one else has this happen to them. One of the highlights of the holiday, though, was the visit to Amsterdam, not for the city itself - big, quite grubby, lots of rubbish around the streets, with shops boarded up and grafitti - but for the floating flower market. There weren't many stalls, only 3 actually had blooms and only 1 with tulips in flower, the rest were bulbs with the exception of one stall which I could've quite happily spent a fortune at ... it had cacti of all shapes and sizes. I got 2 lovey specimens for 5 euros! They are lovely and I took ages to decide which ones to get, I'd easily have bought 2-dozen if I'd had the chance!! As an afterthought, if I had bought a load more cacti, I could've put them round the camper at night to provide a protective prickily boundary!!!!! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob M Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi Libby After some time the anger and frustration will go. Never been to Holland never will. Some of the most pleasant people you will meet on a Spanish camp site are from Holland.I have been told by one that they have similar situations as the U.K. As a lady from there said to my wife, its okay for the flowers and thats all she could say. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usinmyknaus Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Mel, what an appalling incident. If you publish the name and e-mail address of the mayor on this forum I will send an e-mail stating I will omit his village and district from future visits unless security is improved and the police are prepared to turn out to help distressed victims and take action to catch and prosecute offenders. (We have been to Holland several times and are planning another trip.) I wonder if sufficient numbers on this forum take similar action in response to incidents we can motivate authorities to protect their (paying) guests? If that aire gets a reputation for regular visits by police patrols I expect the local low-life will steer clear of it. In my experience of working with offenders, both youths and adults, what they do is never "mindless", they really, really enjoy it and the more distress they can cause the happier they are. So I hope you feel able to continue to enjoy motorhoming and in that regard at least, the evil perpetrators will have lost. On crime and punishment I'm with his Honour Judgemental. Criminal society self-regulates through pain and death and the fear of pain and death. If we don't employ the same methods to protect our version of society, we will forever remain victims in waiting! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 No further information on the Millingen officials as yet. LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booboo Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Hi Mel ,as a relative new comer to motorhomes and this forum i just wanted to say i was really sorry to read of your nitemare on holiday ,and hope you and your family soon put it behind you. KEITH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 Update on the situation. Insurance - we've had an estimate in from a local firm for £2,329.14 to repair the damage caused, we're waiting on RDH, where we bought it from, to give us a second estimate so that we've got a comparison for the insurance company. They're sending an assessor out on Friday morning to have a look at the damage and give approval for the work to be done (which I sincerely hope is just a formality!!!!!). Obviously it should be repaired correctly but it will never be back to what it was, we'll always know about it. It's just over 10 weeks before we go away abroad again so hopefully it'll get done by then ........ Netherlands forum - this is where we got the info about the 'camperplaats' from - I wrote to them explaining what had happened and have received a nice email from at chap there. Apparently this is not an uncommon occurence in Holland!!!! It happens to Dutch campers as well as others so at least that seems to rule out the 'racism' angle thank goodness. There appears to be a problem there with a lot of people not being happy about motorhomes parking, no matter whether in official stopping areas or not, it appears to have even happened on some camp sites. There seems to be some hostility and resistance by Dutch residents to the creation of any type of stopping areas for motorhomes, no matter how unobtrusive and inoffensive the places that are so designated are. I replied and said that unfortunately whilst this is the situation I couldn't recommend that anyone visits their country. My advice, therefore, is that if do go to Holland, be very careful where and when you stop - apparently one of the favourite times for these attacks is on Sundays and seems to happen more often than not near the more religious cities and towns! We were attacked early on a Sunday morning. Unless you really have a need to go to Holland, I'd stay well clear of it at night and only pass through it during the day. No way would I wish this on anyone else. Can't remember if I mentioned or not but we're due to go to our annual Microcar Club camping weekend on 13 June so long as the weather is going to be good - we'll go for a bit of R&R as the camper is usable if not very pretty ... I'll glue some more perspex on I think to make sure it really is watertight to be safe! At least we know we'll be safe there and should have a good laugh to take our minds off things ... it'll be a good chance to get back into the camping mood as well ... if anyone has any influence (Tony?) can they please pray for good weather for us!!!! Mel B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 MEL B I talked to my contact in Holland two days ago, also Emailed him. His only response to asking about the Town Mayor of Millingen was WHY? This contact is very well known by me but he still appears dis-interested in the problem. He has a M/H himself so should be aware of what we are about. This is not a good response from him for he's often asking me for assistance...so... we must therefore assume the answer lies in what Mel B has just said in that M/h's are often not welcome in Holland. I shall forward my thoughts at not receiving assistance and see what his response is. Sorry its the best I can do LB PS is this why so many Dutch M/H's are seen in other countries one must ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffersonCampervan Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I wonder if the imputed Dutch resistance to stellplatz is related to the recent elimination of the countrywide ban on freecamping? Maybe some Dutch don't realize the rules have been relaxed, or don't like that they have been, coupled with non-RVers not knowing what a stellplatz is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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