Camera Saga

My camera has turned up, so I've been able to retrieve the photos that were on it. The fact that it took over six weeks to be returned, is a story in itself.

I left it in a Europcar rental in Perth. My contention is that it was never lost, as I knew exactly where it was - safely out of the sun in the lidded centre console. As soon as I boarded the aircraft for the flight home, I realised it was missing, so immediately on arrival in Brisbane, I phoned Europcar to ask them to retrieve it. I suggested they post it to me COD.

The person who took the call sounded distracted, so I wasn't surprised when I phoned back a week later to be told that no trace had been found. I was assured that the car had been checked the day I phoned. At this point I gave up ever seeing it again.

The advice that the car had been ckecked turned out to be nonsense, of course, when I got a text message from a bloke from Darwin explaining he'd found the camera exactly where I'd left it when he hired the same car a week later. He'd read my mobile number from the inside lid of the camera case where I'd written it. I always label my possessions, a habit initially picked up in boarding school as a kid, and reinforced in the army.

He asked me what I wanted done with the camera, so I asked him if he could hand it in to Europcar when he returned the vehicle. He offered to post it to me, but I figured he'd gone to enough trouble.

I was later to regret this.

He let me know he'd handed it in, and I phoned Europcar shortly afterwards to make sure they knew it was mine, and asked them to post it COD. I was assured this would happen before COB that day.

Two weeks later, the camera hadn't turned up, so I tried a different tack. It was at this point I began regretting not accepting the offer of the bloke who found it to post it direct. I emailed Europcar on their customer feedback page, and explained my problem. This worked.

I got a phone call from the Perth depot manager apologising and explaining that the camera had been located in the office safe, and had been posted (at their expense).

It turned up three days later. I sent the guy from Darwin a small reward.

When it finally arrived I found it impossible to read my phone number because the print on the label had run, but this bloke had deciphered it. Maybe it got damp somehow in transit.

It was good to get it back - it has sentimental value, having travelled all over Australia, been to  Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and twice to Vietnam. It also takes good shots and is robust and user friendly.

Attached to this are a few of the shots that were on it.

BTW, it's an Olympus C-310 which I bought in 2005.

Araluen - WA

 Adelaide Air Museum

Beer tasting - brewery - Margaret River

King's Park - Perth

Loco - Adelaide Rail Museum

Busselton WA