Sending yer stuff to Oz

Maccattack

Of all youguys that have moved to Oz have any of you done it lock stock an barrell?

ie have you bougth the contents of your house with you?

Can you give me an idea of cost and stuff like that.

it sounds like a major head ache...

daiixi

I don't know about the entire contents of your house but for just general stuff check out http://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/

The Sweeper

Hey Maccattack - try www.aussiemove.com for a forum on everything to do with moving to Australia.

Seven Seas, as linked by Daiixi, will do personal effects shipping - e.g. boxes of your stuff and a couple of odd-shaped items - e.g. your golf clubs, your guitar - but they won't take your sofa and your white goods.

There are plenty of folk who will take all your stuff. The Aussie Moves website is the best for feedback and stories, including information on what to bring and what not to bring and why, different experiences with different shippers, so on and so forth.

If you're moving your whole house, you may need a whole container. You might go the whole hog and have a moving company come to your house, pack your things and ship it to Australia in a 40-foot container, bring it to your door and then unpack it for you - but you'll pay for that service.

Most quotes are based on cubic meters - word of warning, if you're not paying for a container all to yourself (expensive, e.g. few grand type expensive) then your shipment can be delayed at both ends:

*It can be delayed while they wait for someone else's stuff to fill the rest of the container to make it worth their while at this end.
*Container shipping by sea generally takes an average of six weeks
*At the other end, if the person whose stuff is sharing your container has something dodgy in their gear and it's held up by customs, your stuff will also be held up as long as there's a question mark over that container.

NB: Lots of things in Australia are cheaper than here!! Most people don't ship their white goods (unless you're particularly in love with your front-loader washing machine). New cars are cheaper there than in the UK and Ireland, but second hand are relatively more expensive. Your living room suite - depends on how new it is. Home entertainment system including your telly - don't bother, you can get better for cheaper down there.

Plus - top tip - Oz is on the same voltage as us so you can bring the electrics you're really attached to. However the plugs are different, so buy yourself a couple of multi-gang plug extension boards in Ireland, so when you get to Oz you can change just one plug - the one on the multi-gang - and plug all your Irish stuff into that. Save you clearing the local DIY store out and spending a whole day changing the plugs on your gear.

dSTAR

I know of people spending $20,000 to ship the entire contents of their house from Ireland. It would have been much cheaper and easier to sell most of their stuff on eBay and start afresh. Obviously ship stuff that has meaning and is irreplaceable but shipping over everything including the kitchen sink is going a bit too far!