the_nanny_uk2

Ok Can people please tell me what they packed into a 20ft container, what did you take and what was left behind? Do you take your washing machines??
Bedroom furniture? etc etc

My kids think the whole container is for their toys! NO WAY!!!

Any replies greatly appreciated thank you

jo x

WelshSarah

Bring everything!! Unless its on its last legs I would bring it!! I ( and my friends) left our warm clothes and boots, books, furniture etc and we all regretted it once we were here. Its not that its more expensive here but for what you can sell it for , just bring it!! All white goods will work here... I wish I had brought my dish washer, washer and dryer as i have had to get new here. I brought my cleaner and iron with me and am glad.. Ironing boards, everything!!

Rainydaze

Scarily, I can hardly remember what we packed We were up all night before the removal team came and they were there from 8.50am till 5pm. Annoyingly, they packed the page-turning novel I was devouring in snatched minutes here and there. So I'll have to wait another several weeks before I find out what happened...

For the 3 days that followed the Aus-packers, the remainder of our stuff flew out of the house in a frenzy of hired vans, family vehicles and oxfam vans. We gave a lot of stuff to family and friends, some to charity and sold the rest. Because everything exited the house at roughly the same time, and because we'd just come back from a trip abroad immediately before the removals, I can't really recall what went where!! It was probably How Not To Do A Housemove. Depressingly, my sister (a veteran of last minute house moves) has warned me that I'll spend several months after our things arrive looking for something, only to realise that it's gone!!

Trying to actually answer your question, however, I know we took our bed, dining table and chairs, two beside lockers and chests of drawers, coffee table, three bookcases, stereo cabinet, two stereos, three guitars, keyboard, TV cabinet, CDs, DVDs, books (enough to fill the bookcases I'm embarrassed to confess), and a few bits of sentimental stuff like ornaments and photos, including several large pictures OH had blown up of our travels to Asia and Africa, and maybe 50% of our clothes.

We left the kitchen electrical goods cos as I understand it the fridges don't really cut it in the heat, plus we were offered a washing machine by OH's friend. Also we left both TVs cos they were analogue anyway. And left a lot of small electrical appliances e.g. hairdryers, blenders, etc cos the plugs are different here and it seemed easier just to slowly replace everything and really start afresh. We did it before and we can do it again.

Actually, OH's mate told me the other night that when he moved up from the sticks to Sydney he bought a blow up bed and blow up sofa when he moved into his first apartment here! Not sure if we'll go down that route but pretty confident we'll get by!

Good luck

Rainydaze

Great. So we should have brought the white goods after all...!!!!

WelshSarah

Ha Ha!! I dont think you can move a fridge but I certainly brought all my bits!! Hand whisks ( even though it almost turned out cheaper to buy a basic one in Coles than buy a new plug!!) coffee machines, toasters, kettles... all mine came. I bought cheap ones on arrival and have now kept them as a back up.. i would say pack it and if youdont want it then get rid of it once its here... I also wish I had taken a bit more interest in the housepaking (OH did most of it) as I now miss my 3 pairs of UGGs ha binned and all my cook books!!

Nikki.P

Everything, bring everything. You can bring your fridge as long as its not ancient and doesn't have CFC's or something like that in it, newer fridges don't. Honestly we put absolutely everything we could fit in the container in the container and I'm so glad we did. We still didn't have anything like enough furniture to fill our house when we bought one, but I find electrical goods to be quite expensive here even though you can usually haggle them down to a reasonable price but still dearer IMO. We had to leave out a couple of things like a wicker chair and a couple of deck chairs and we didn't bother bringing the lawn mower as we couldn't be doing with trying to clean it, just bought a new one when we got here. But so glad we brought everything, fill your container to the brim!!!!!

Blossom

our daughter has just moved back to oz she regrets not bringing the old dining table and chairs apparently they are much sought after for art deco renovations etc.also apparently the new lcd tvs work over there and they are much dearer to replace.also unless the fridge freezer is new and the oz spec don't take those.other wise bring everything apparently nsw is very cold at the mo and my daughter regrets not bringing more warm clothes.also its very expensive sending stuff separately so if not sure pack anyway.

slipshot

Take everything as it all works. Fridges included, as ling as they have been manufactured within the past 8-10 years I think. Rather than change plugs, two good options are to take lots of multi-adapters with you (ie 4 or 5 way gang sockets), thus meaning you only need to change one plug on the adapter and keep the UK plugs on everything else.

The other thing I did was to phone up a company that makes the UK - Aus adapter plugs and did a deal on bulk buying. I bought 20 for the retail price of about 8, and took them all with me. Was perfect for my needs and covered everything else - the last thing, when arriving in a new country and unpacking that you want to do is to sit down and spend time re-wiring plugs. This is a lot easier and not that expensive...

TV's is the only issue - but if you are going to get Foxtel you'll be fine, just do not rely on the TV tuner. Or buy a Aus spec VCR or the like and use that tuner instead and TV will be perfect!

Andy

Machiavelli

I asked the removal company to come over two days, a week apart.

The first day they took away all of the stuff that I really wanted to take. I then spent the next 6 days in a rather empty house, sorting through to decide what I wanted to take, what I'd like to take, and what I'd fit in if there was space left. Because they'd taken so many of the 'big' things away, I had empty rooms that I could use to store the different priority things.

We didn't bring big electrical items because they were all over 5 yrs old, or mattresses because I didn't fancy sleeping on them after they'd been in a container for however long.

We bought big electrical items and mattresses when we moved into our rental, and waited for the container to arrive.

I think it costs more to replace the 'small' items, like kitchen utensils etc, but like many other had to buy cheap stuff here to tide us over.

Hope this helps!

Mxxx

the_nanny_uk2

Thank you all so much for your responses, I wasnt quite sure what I was able to take over there.

Machievil - your idea sounds fab! How organised! Just up my street. Changing plugs isnt that big a deal for us as Hubby is an electrician! lol.

Just need to clarify the TV situation and whether they work or not. We have a 2yr old LCD 40 inch TV, that'l work wont it, but what about a TV aged over 5yrs old???

J

Machiavelli

From what (little) I know, the LCD would work here, but not too sure about the 'over 5 yr old tv'.

You could try sending a PM to Steve 'O. He's an electrician and lives on the Gold Coast. I'm sure he would be able to give you any info you need about electrical items.

The only thing difficult about changing plugs here is finding plugs! We bought them big time whenever we saw them! Oh! and you have to be a licensed electrician here to change a light bulb!

If you can persuade your removal firm to split their packing and collection over two days, a week apart, I would certainly recommend it. Mine were able to tell me how much of the container I had already filled, so that I had a good idea of what space I had left to take up.

Happy packing!

Mxxx

slipshot

Every TV will work. Every TV tuner will not. Easiest way of saying it.

If you connect say an Aus purchased VCR or the like to a UK TV, and just use the tuner from the VCR to get the 5 channels in Aus, you will be fine. Your standard TV on it's own will not pick up the Aus channels (in general terms).

If you take your TV and connect your, or Aus purchased DVD player, it will work fine, but it depends if your DVD is region free - but this only matters for new DVD's.

As most people will likely get Foxtel (their version of Sky), this connects via a SCART socket, which most TV's have, and even if it does not, it's still OK - again, you are using the 'tuner' part of the Foxtel box and not the TV.

Basically, every TV will work, but you may need to use a different tuner.

Think if it this way - in the UK, in a few years, we'll all move to a digital signal. This means every TV can accept it, but you may need an aerial and you will need a tuning box - because the TV tuner work son a different system. Same principle applies when taking TV's to Aus - although not digital, they use a different tuning system so you need to get around that by using a different tuner, such as a VCR tuner, Foxtel etc.

Hope this helps.

Andy

slipshot

The LCD TV would work but so would the 5 year old - but they would not tune in. Age of TV will not make hardly any difference, but a new TV MAY have a global tuner which would work in Aus. Some do, most don't.

DO not take your LCD TV and assume it will work without any additions as they is a good chance it will not. BUT with a cheap addition it would be fine.