I am in the process of packing up my life in America and heading home to the blue skies and rolling oceans of Australia.
Has anyone had experience with shipping companies or the postal service in this matter. I am not concerned with how long it takes for my stuff to arrive but I would like to find the cheapest option. I am sending a lot of books so the load will be heavy and it would be better for me to pay by size rather than weight.
What a coincidence! My husband and I are doing the same thing. We’re not bringing any furniture, just boxes, so I think we’re going to send them one at a time via the USPS, ground. I don’t know if this is really the best way, though, so I’m open to other options. I hope someone has some good suggestions.
I do know that UPS and FedEx are not good options for any packages to Australia because they do not have the customs agreements that the USPS has with Australia, which causes customs to be prohibitive.
I’ve contacted a couple international moving companies and have gotten quotes from $2000 to $7000. The lower quote was just for boxes + a few pieces of furniture (bed, small desk, baby equipment).
This is probably all very unhelpful, but I was excited to see someone doing the same thing we are. We’re leaving in September for Sydney. We’re shipping our dog first (using a kennel service in LA), then taking a train across the US, then flying out of LA.
First, be very cautious about shipping any breakables or anything you couldn’t stand losing. The risk of breakage or loss is fairly high.
Second, C3, have you looked into the details of shipping the dog? The last I heard (admittedly, several years ago), dogs being shipped to Australia are subject to a VERY lengthy and expensive quarantine period. Most experts on international moves suggest that it is much kinder for the dog if you can find a family member or friend to take it, and not subject it to the shipping and storage which can be extremely traumatic to your pet.
I was going to link to the Australian government webpage about importing dogs from the USA, because there’s lots of good and useful information about it there.
However, the site seems to be down at the moment.
sigh
If you go to http://www.affa.gov.au and follow links for AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) you should be able to find the relevant information.
With regards the original post:
People I know have used shipping containers with http://www.grace.com.au and had relatively few troubles. I don’t know if this is an option for you.
Remember that because of Australia’s stringent quarantine regulations, you can’t bring plants, soil, anything containing seeds, sand or animal material (eg hides/skins etc are often prohibited), and wooden items all have to be inspected to make sure there are no termites/borers in them.
The quarantine period for dogs imported to Australia was decreased to one month (it used to be 6 months), if the dog has been prepared far enough in advance to travel. I’m pretty familiar with the process. We were supposed to move back a couple years ago and had the dog finished with the process except for the stuff that had to be done the week of travel. I ended up getting pregnant, so we postponed our move. Anyway, it takes about 6 months and we’re hiring a reputable kennel service (recommended by AQIS…which is now called something else, which I don’t know off the top of my head). The kennel service will make all flight arrangements, take our dog to her final USDA vet examination (at LAX), and seal her in her crate. The flight itself will probably suck for her, but she’s a calm, adaptable, healthy dog, so I think she’ll do okay. The quarantine facilities themselves are very nice (we’ve viewed them on their website and have had friends whose dogs were quarantined when they moved). Each dog has his own, very large cage. The cages have indoor and outdoor sections. Each dog has his own mini-trampoline to sleep on so that he’s not on the concrete. We can, and will, visit her while she’s there.
Anyway…back to getting stuff there. Thanks for the link. phraser. I hadn’t considered getting a moving company from Australia. The quotes I got were from U.S. companies.
We had problems at the Australian end when we arrived here from NZ. We were told by our moving company in NZ that we were unlikely to have a full customs inspection. That was crap. We were also sure that it was door to door delivery and it turned out it wasn’t.
If you go the shipping route DO NOT pack anything yourself. Mr P packed one carton and they noted it on the manifest without telling us that it would absolutely ensure that we would have the full customs inspection. $1800 later, I was not impressed. Find out in advance who the freaking customs agent handling your stuff is. Ringing around the customs agencies looking for your stuff sucks the big one.
If I did it again, I would use a big company like Grace Bros rather than the small cheap local company because I suspect it would be a more seamless process than what we endured.
[sup]Yeah, Memphis[/sup][/ul]