[bartons]

Hi folks,
what a week! We had one week to pack up all our belongings, book the container and the flights, do all the paperwork and get out of the house. It was a mad rush to sort everything out (not recommended!), but we got everything done in 7 days. We loaded a 20' container between three of us in just about three hours (another thing that can be done but not recommended). However, the container is on its way; we paid 1900 £ to get it to NZ - not bad for all our worldly possessions from one side of the world to the other.
Now we have a few days with relatives before flying out on Saturday at last. So looking forward to going!
Jack + Mareike

[Mickstim]

Well done guys. That all deserves a banana or two :raebanana :raebanana
Good luck with the rest of the move!

[Belmont Babes]

Love to know which shipping company charges £1900. We have had quotes for £3200 for 20' container. Is someone trying to rip me off?

Well done to you. All the best for the remainder of the move

[welwynrose]

Love to know which shipping company charges £1900. We have had quotes for £3200 for 20' container. Is someone trying to rip me off?

Well done to you. All the best for the remainder of the move

I was just thinking the same myself

[wiki]

I imagine the price difference comes down to the Bartons self packing - the rest of your quote is probably for the labour of someone else packing and stacking for you

[Andy&Carol]

Phew! Have a couple of days rest, then enjoy the flight, and your new life down under!

[bartons]

Belmonts - the price was for a DIY-move. All the shipping agent did was send a truck with a container on the back, wait for three hours, seal it and drive off again. Then it gets shipped to NZ and dumped in the port - the rest is up to us. So the costs are actually a bit higher: the costs of packing materials, the customs and MAF charges (no idea yet - lets hope for the best!), the delivery at the other end...
The shipping agent/freight forwarder we used is called GBS Freight Ltd. So far they've been very helpful. We just did a Google Search on freight forwarders, emailed a dozen for quotes and picked the one we liked best... But lets wait and see how it'll turn out at the other end!

[holland]

Good Luck Bartons, and well done you, have a safe flight, and enjoy your time with your relatives


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

J and G x

[peebles16]

Good Luck from us too Bartons - enjoy!!
Kx

[LesleyS]

Wow...admire your stamina for tackling that packing by yourselves, congratulations on getting this far. :nice1

Have a great time with the family before you go, and safe journey too! :cheers

[Sam B]

Say goodbye to Cornwall for me! We spent £2500 more on our shipping - so maybe all the hard work was worth it? Good luck with the journey..

[migratory birds]

Good for you! I've been trying to figure out timing on packing/selling/departing...sounds like you took the "Put the house on the market, then pack it all up" approach.

You waited until the closing on the house (final sale) before booking your flights? Did you end up with decent fares? Or were you stuck with last minute purchase high prices?

Best in the coming weeks transitions!

[andreamatt]

And say goodbye to Cornwall from us too (we were in Lostwithiel for many years)!

Best of luck with the coming weeks - I found it quite a relief to have sent our container off. You can now focus your energy elsewhere - with family and friends.

Andrea

[benandclare]

Well done guys, sweet as , as they say down here :raebanana

Which part of this fantastic place are you heading to?

[bartons]

Thanks for all the good wishes, guys - lets hope things keep moving smoothly!
- migratory birds: Yes, we did wait for the final sale (the exchange of contracts) before doing anything, and we then stupidly agreed to only 7 days between final sale and moving-out date (completion). So we had one week to book a container, book the flights and pack the house contents. The flights, althought booked only 2 weeks in advance, were cheaper than 2 or 4 months in advance. We paid £ 1700 for Heathrow to Auckland with S.A. for the four of us and thought it was a good price.
- benandclare: We'll be going to the Bay of Islands for three months to satisfy the conditon of the visa (take up job that was offered for at least 3 months) and then want to head down to the Dunedin area. It's a bit like wanting to live down in Cornwall and having got a job offer in Aberdeen...
At the moment we're still trying to sort out our container insurance, and the container is already at sea. That was one of several things that didn't get sorted out last week...

[IanW99]

- benandclare: We'll be going to the Bay of Islands for three months to satisfy the conditon of the visa (take up job that was offered for at least 3 months) and then want to head down to the Dunedin area. It's a bit like wanting to live down in Cornwall and having got a job offer in Aberdeen...

You need to remember that everything in NZ is "backwards", it is actually a bit like wanting to live up in Aberdeen and having got a job offer in Cornwall. :D

Ian