[pinkpiggy]

Apologies if this has already been covered but I did a search and couldn't find what I was looking for.

There are lots of threads that deal with shipping furniture out to NZ but I'm interested in what people packed in their cases, other than clothes. There are the obvious things like documents but what else?

[Mr TW]

Great question Pink pink. I shall look forward to the answers on this one ;)

[Angelonthemove]

I took my pillow from my bed and used it on the flight it can become very small in a carrier bag. then you have it in your accomodation when you arrive.

Your favourite music, take out of cases, and any DVD's for the children. Medicine which is obvious.

If you are waiting for your container and going into unfurnished then anything you could not live without in the meantime.

What I wish I had packed we had to wait 1 month for our container to arrive - set of cutlery for each, paring knife, tea cloth, towels x 2, chocolates, bottle opener, and sheets for our bed.

My flat walking boots as it was cold when we got here and we seem to walk everywhere until we got a car. If I had the room I would have brough my dressing gown too. Coats of some sort as its so changeable the weather.

copy of any no claims bonus if you buy a car to get insurance deal.

You need work business suits for interviews (shirt & tie), although its more relaxed here a suit is a must for interviews still.

Reference for your rented accomodation or copy of mortgage details that you own a house. We got a reference from our accountant that was generic.

I'm sure other will think of other stuff to bring, these are just my opinions.

[marcia]

Quilt cover, sheet, pillow case and a couple of towels per person. Plastic lightweight airbeds - the kind you have on the beach not the proper camping ones they were too heavy! Some lightweight blankets/fleecey covers especially if you are not coming in summer - and hot water bottles - my feet were freezing - have borrowed a 'hottie' from a friend couldn't find any in the shops this time of year!

Selection of kitchen utensils, potato peeler, carving knife, can opener, knife fork spoon set - stuff we had used for the couple of weeks we were living in an empty house that would have been left.

We brought our PS2, wrapped in towels and packed with non heavy items, along with one of those wallets with a selection of our CD'S,DVD'S, and PS2 games, (that way you don't have a load of weight in all the DVD cases)

A few books for the boys and toys for Emerson.

Some photos of those 'special people' you want to remember, (if you are taking a laptop this isn't so important.

All the paperwork re immigration, shipping, insurance etc. You don't have to have your proof of no claims to get the discount when applying for your motor insurance but if you later make a claim they may want it so best to bring that with you as well.

I wish I had packed in our case some stationery items, eg - stapler, hole punch and some document files, we have a box at the moment and it all gets thrown in there and is not a very efficient filing system at all!! - i know i couldgo and buy another lot but we have loads in the container and it just seems a waste of the wages we are budgeting hard with!!! So we just have to search our 'box' if we need anything!!

If you are bringing your own home telephones - maybe if you have a small light one, pack that - we had to buy one, not too expensive, but a waste if you know there are others on the way!

I'm sure others will dismiss stuff, and add to it - but this is just what we brought or what i wished we had!

[jubjub]

We bought pretty much what Marcia suggested, quilt covers/towels, light blankets.

We also brought picnic cutlery, chopping board, other basic kitchen equipment, tin opener, sharp knives. We bought two cheap pans here (one for water boiling, the other for cooking!).

We packed the wireless router, extension cables (with four plugs on end) phone chargers, I even had the mini george forman grill in my case.

We had loads but we did have the 64kg Air NZ via LAX allowance...

We did not bring airbeds, we hired a proper bed on arrival, and had one night in a hotel before the keys for rental were in our hands.

Basically we took the approach that our luggage allowance was "free" with our flight and we would use every gram of it! Everything we packed was one less thing we had to buy/hire until our container arrived.

[tigerlily]

I've book marked this thread-
http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6460
as being helpful for that question too.

[nippa&pippa]

screwdriver! my OH wish he pack them!!
Also i wish i brought photocopies medical files, by ask dr to print out what he got in the computer, with me to save the problem at dr. UK's health board charge £50 per person to release file to NZ's dr, so we didn't bother paying £200 for it.
If you got young kids, bring their red book and their medications if any.

[gil]

Hi Paula,
Most of what we brought was clothes, to be honest, including dressing gowns which were bulky but necessary. We had a month in a motel so didn't need much equipment. All 6 of us brought laptops as hand luggage, so our cases contained wireless router and miles and miles of cable (all necessary, so OH said :D)

I did bring towels and other dirty washing from the last few days in Cardiff! Towels were handy once we got into our rental though.

Son brought electric guitar in hold, though obviously not in a suitcase!

Wew missed having a cafetiere until a kind ne3w friend lent us hers!

I know this wouldn't fit in a suitcase, but the first morning we arrived (at 06.45 hours!) Babette took care of us with a bag of shopping: bread, milk, butterspread, cheese, juice, lamingtons and cookies - how grateful were we!!

Gil
x

[thepiesleys]

Six laptops!!!!

Blinkin flip... :D

[sarahw]

Yep brought my pillow on the plane - can't sleep without it! We brought clothes mainly & bought most other things when we got here. We slept on the floor for the first 3 weeks until our container arrived.

I brought all of my valuable jewellery in my hand luggage - wasn't going to chance on that going missing in the suitcase or getting damaged or sunk in the sea container.

Plus loads of important papers - divorce certificates, birth certificate, health files, copies of passport photos, driving licence and an address book with all family/friends contact details - don't put them in your suitcase incase it gets lost or in the sea container because you'll likely need them when you arrive for ID or in the case of the address book as a contact.

Camera!!

Hmmm what else? Buy some duty free - spirits aren't cheap out here! You also might need them to tide you over if the sea container gets delayed!!

Good luck with the move!! It all seems so long ago now that we did it but it was such an exciting adventure - enjoy every minute!!

[pinkpiggy]

Having looked at the information given by you all and having looked at other threads I have compiled a general list of items that people may/may not want to pack in their suitcases, obviously dependent on space and number of people travelling. Please let me know if I have missed anything - important or otherwise. :cheers

Documents

Immigration documents
Shipping documents
Passports
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificates
Any other family documents (e.g. divorce certificate)
No claims document (for car insurance)
Photocopies of medical files (both Dr’s and dentist)
Driving licence (including paper section)
Address books
Bank statements
Credit Reference file (e.g. Experian/Equifax)
Copy of utility bills
Mortgage statement
Qualifications
NZQA reports
Reference letters
CV

Medicines

Any medication you are taking
First Aid Kit
Calpol (for any small children)

Personal Items

CD’s/DVD’s (probably want to take these out of box and put in wallet)
Books
Games console for children (handheld or otherwise)
Laptop (plus assortment of cables)
Mobile phone plus charger (ask supplier to remove SIM restriction)
Valuable jewellery (may want to carry on person)
Camera (and cable)
Toiletries (Shampoos, deodorant, creams, make-up etc.)
Hairdryer
Shaver/Beard Trimmer

General/Miscellaneous

Stationery (document wallets/hole punch/stapler)
Assortment of kitchen utensils (potato peeler, paring knife, can opener, knife fork spoon set)
Screwdriver
Sewing kit
Travel Adapter

Clothing

General day to day clothing
Suit for interviews
Walking boots
Coats (suitable for time of year)
Dressing gowns

Linen

Quilt covers
Sheets
Pillow cases
Towels
Tea Towels

[Sam B]

Jub jub - we are flying Air NZ via LA and we have been told 46kg each. Have I got it wrong? Can I rush out and buy some more large cases??

Just packing our 8 suitcases (between 4 of us at the moment) and have managed to fit in 4 feather duvets rolled up v tight and taped with gaffer tape. Also pillows and all bedding and towels (I love my bedding). I have separated clothes out in to winter and summer and labelled all the bags carefully and put lists in the top of them so I don't have to rifle through every one when trying to find something.

Like the advice about kitchen stuff - thanks.

This thread is so useful for me at the moment!

Sam

[sarahw]

Its 64Kg we came by Air NZ via LAX. I'm not sure if there's a limit on the amount of suitcases you can check in per person - we brought 2 each.

Happy packing!!

[jubjub]

Jub jub - we are flying Air NZ via LA and we have been told 46kg each. Have I got it wrong? Can I rush out and buy some more large cases??


This thread is so useful for me at the moment!

Sam

Sam they have changed ir recently to two cases of 23kg per person, and they are quite strict on the number of cases, you are only allowed 2 per person.

[Sam B]

Dammit!!

[gil]

Yep, 2 x 23 kilo cases per person. I had not read this properly on the tickets and we had 2 cases each (12 intotal) plus one case for toiletires plus my son's guitar. The VERY nice check-in lady put them through and didn't charge us :clap but do be careful with it. She asked me if I had weighed our cases and I replied that I had, and when the first one went on the scales, it was 28kilos not 23! :o

I think she took pity on us travelling with four kids as she just put everything through, but I know this is not the norm!

Good luck Sam B! (And everyone else about to depart...)

Gil

[Sam B]

Oh God, do they all have to be 23kg or under, I thought I could have maybe some lighter and some heavier???

[Ana&Steve]

Thanks for the consolidated list, pinkpiggy! Gonna print it for the move :)
Ana

[jubjub]

Oh God, do they all have to be 23kg or under, I thought I could have maybe some lighter and some heavier???

You can have two cases, that add up to 46kg, but due to airline baggage handling rules, they cannot under any circumstance be over 32kg, so you could have one at 30 and one at 16kg, adding up to your 46kg.

:D

[Sam B]

This might seem strange, but we thought it was a really good idea. We do a lot of cooking, so we went through all our recipe books and photocopied all the recipes we like and use alot. We've made up a file of them to pack and take with us.

[Trigirl]

You can have two cases, that add up to 46kg, but due to airline baggage handling rules, they cannot under any circumstance be over 32kg, so you could have one at 30 and one at 16kg, adding up to your 46kg.

this has changed (at the same time as the luggage allowance changed from 64kg to 46kg). it is now a max 23kg per case. you can have 2 cases up to 23kg each.


from AirNZ website
Flights between New Zealand and London via Los Angeles:
Economy and Premium Economy

2 pieces, each up to 23kg (50 lbs)

[Sam B]

Aaarrgghh, please no! I'm going to have to repack everything.

[jubjub]

Heres the Airnz baggage info link, according to that you can still have bags up to 32kg

http://www.airnz.co.nz/travelinfo/baggageinformation/check_in_baggage.htm

You got me panicing there trigirl! we are going away soon are hoping to take one big case!

[Trigirl]

absolutely - if you are flying business class you can still take cases up to 32kgs

[Sam B]

No luck for me, I'm in sardine class.

[jess]

Well covered above, but here are two small things I was glad to have in my luggage...

I brought some Tylenol PM for when a backache or other pain keeps me up at night. It's so cheap in the US, but in NZ it comes in expensive packs of 8 for which you have to sign and give your adress, and I've only seen it in strong gel caps you can't split in half.

The other thing Americans might want to bring is a plain US power strip with 6 or 8 outlets. If you're using a transformer and bringing more than one piece of electronics, it will allow you to plug multiple items into the transformer at a time. Although you can get transformers here in NZ, you can't get American power strips anywhere here that I've found.

[thepiesleys]

Hey - to get the definitive answer re baggage amounts phone your airline. We did this two days before we flew and asked the exact criteria for weights per bag.

No embarresing re packing at the check in... :uhoh

[Sam B]

Just phoned the airline - yep each bag has to weigh 23kg or less. HOW PICKY!!!! GRRRR. Am currently lying on floor, foam errupting from mouth. I now have to repack all my lovely organised and labelled bags. AARRGGHH!!!!!!

[wanderingoregonian]

HI... Sam, I just flew over here in November. For the states lag, they were only worried about 50 pounds per bag or something like that. At the airport I shuffled things back and for to get that.

They were heavy, but didn't charge me from pdx to california saying that I would just have to pay again when I went over seas.


When I went to fry from california to Auckland on AirNZ, No one said anything to me about my bags. From Auckland to Welly, it took a few things out to carry with me to make sure that neither bag was 32 kg (a hard max to prevent worker injury). They were both nearly 32... and I just had to pay a fee per kilo there.

I'd call the airlines a couple times... I got very very different answers each time. One person even said that I'd have to pay some overseas baggage thing that would total $240... in the end I think I paid $5, though I'm certain someone forgot to charge me at least one leg of the trip.

I completely understand why they need baggage limits, as it cost more gas and you absolutely need to not be overweight when taking off (particuarly on hot days).. but i think back to all my travel the past 5 years, rarely with more than 25 kg total, and I just wished I could use some of those kilos for th move ;)

[nippa&pippa]

hmmm, i have to confess that we did something naughty there on packing....we managed to sneak heavy items inside pushchair like a file contains full of docoments required in NZ, they were so heavy!! i know our hang luggage will be over 7kg!! with all baby clothes, foods etc. After check in, because pushchair is oversize, we had to go to other place to hand in pushchair and two car seat in. But before we arrived to oversize check in, we empty everything out of pushchair and put in hand luggages :laugh (of course, out of airline's view!!)
Did it before in last april as brought few bottle of wines home to UK from NZ. We hidden in pushchair....i know we were naughty....i wondering did anyone else did this too???????