[napiers]

I was wondering what advice or thoughts people had on whether it's better to ship your stuff over pretty close to leaving, so you have it for as long as possible in the Uk (or wherever you are!) or whether it's better to ship it a while before you go so you have less time to wait at the other end. No idea which way round is better. I think I've seen on a couple of threads that furnished rentals are harder to come by, is that what people have found.

I know that whichever way will involve living out of cases for a while but would appreciate any comments. :cheers

[shakyle2906]

HI

We only had 6 weeks before we flew and shipped our boxes over, which took about 6-8wks to get to us.

We were lucky that we found a rental that was furnished, but still had to go and buy certain things to keep us going, eg bedding and towels.

Unsure how long a container takes to come out, am sure you will have plenty of advise from those who have shipped one out.

Good luck!

Sharon
x

[IanW99]

I was wondering what advice or thoughts people had on whether it's better to ship your stuff over pretty close to leaving, so you have it for as long as possible in the Uk (or wherever you are!) or whether it's better to ship it a while before you go so you have less time to wait at the other end. No idea which way round is better. I think I've seen on a couple of threads that furnished rentals are harder to come by, is that what people have found.

I know that whichever way will involve living out of cases for a while but would appreciate any comments. :cheers

For us, we stayed in a furnished apartment for the first month so would have been better off shipping our furniture earlier before we left as it is easier to survive in the UK with help from friends and relatives.

Having said that, the time taken for containers to get to NZ seems to fluctuate a lot, so the chances are no matter what your plan is, it still won't work out at the other end and you will still need to live out of your cases for a while.

The other problem you have is that you don't want the container to arrive before you have found a rental / house for the container to be delivered to (unless you want to pay for storage of course).

So, best advice I guess is to do what is most convenient to you in the UK and then hope that it works out at the NZ end.

BTW, you can always borrow things from the landlord, forum members or rent furniture for a short period of time from companies such as DTR if you don't get a furnished rental.

Ian

[CJ22]

I think it's entirely contingent.

[benandclare]

We sent ours off 4 weeks ahead of our departure and ended up putting it into storgae here cos we had to wait for 6 weeks before we could move into our house we'd bought, swings and roundabouts :p

[holland]

We sent ours two weeks before we set off from the Uk...arrived 3 and a half months later in New Zealand. We needed that time to get into a rental.

[willsken]

We sent ours 5 weeks before we left as we knew we were going to rent a school house. I just knew I'd want my things as quickly as ,to help me feel settled. Suppose it does depend if you know where you will be living though.

[cappuccino]

Mine left the day I did - 1st Feb. I stayed in a furnished holiday home for 6 weeks until I found a rental and then my shipment arrived a few days ago (26 March). I was only 'camping' for a few days. Landlord lent me a couch to sit/sleep on; friends lent me essential things like crockery and cutlery; the rental house has white goods, so I survived. Now I am surrounded by all my worldly goods and trying to find a place for everything but its great to be able to sleep in my own bed again and wear different clothes from those I brought with in the suitcase!

[napiers]

Thanks everyone for your input - much to think about. I think I just wanted to see what others had done/were doing. I suppose it also depends on what we do with the house, and that's a whole other issue!!