comet555

If you ship your camping gear it will no doubt get inspected because of the possibility there could be soil, leaves, seeds, etc. So if it is something he wants to bring he will have to clean it very, very well.

As you say though if you don't camp you really shouldn't bother, but you know that already! I would suggest that any big items be compared to their rough cost in Australia. If it's cheaper or similar in cost to replace it then don't bother. A futon seems a bit pointless. I picked one up on sale for about $200.

http://www.superamart.com.au/home/pr..._DB.asp?mid=20
http://www.superamart.com.au/home/default.asp

I'd have a look at the furniture packages. The furniture might not be the best but you can do your living and dining room pretty cheaply if you needed to.

alzo

How far is Townsville from Brisbane? Seeing as you are already ahead of us I would love to get some insight into the whole shipping deal. Will send you a pvt message to connect.

comet555

Looks like a 15.5 hour drive, or 1350 km.
http://www.whereis.com/?id=20395DA0AB9082

pinkkristen

When we moved from the UK to Canada 9 months ago, we went to look at a rental property and were shocked that the realtor took his shoes off! We followed suit and met an indian family who were currently renting the property. My only reason i could think why he took off his shoes was it must have been something to do with their religion!! We soon learned fast. Now i know why pedicures are so popular here!!

Back on thread, its really interesting to read about all the canadians moving to Aus, usually just read the UK threads, maybe the winter (which we are about to experience for the 1st time) is gonna be enough to send us flying back to the UK in a heartbeat!!

Dorothy

If you're living in Oakville winter shouldn't be that much of an issue. It's generally warmer there by the lake than if you were in say Winnipeg or Saskatoon. I was there last year just before Christmas and there was no snow yet and temps were around +3. The only day it was bitterly cold was when I went shopping in Buffalo when it was -15 with a wind chill of -25.

As for the shoes thing, it's probably because people have carpet and with the snow and slush we just take off our boots/shoes automatically so it doesn't ruin the carpeting. We'ver always done it both in Canada and now we live in Australia, too.

(Not sure why you have Oakville Toronto as your location unless you have homes in both, since they are separate cities 20 odd miles apart.)

abner

I would really suggest doing it the other way round, i.e. declare it to them. I've been successful bringing similar material through in the past.

If they're inclined to reject it anyway, and you haven't declared it, you'll not only risk a fine, but also further delay as they go through the rest of your shipment with a fine tooth comb. (A colleague of mine had his goods held up an extra 3 weeks because he hadn't been careful with the soil on sporting equipment.)

Dorothy

That's what I would do, too. Bring it in your suitcases but declare it on your incoming passenger card. You will be asked to show it to them at customs and chances are that if it's sealed you will be able to keep it. By not declaring it you could face some serious fines as well as the hassle of them going through your stuff for hours after a 24 hour flight. Last time I flew in I declared everything and had absolutely no problems at all. The nice guy at customs asked what I had, I told him it was and he just said "welcome home".

Japonica

Paula...I agree with everyone else here...you should declare it and let them have a look at it. They might ask to keep it for fumigation or something (who knows with customs), but it's better than them finding it (undeclared) and hitting you up with a fine right off the bat.

I was really picky about my plant material. I ripped pages out of travel journals that had flowers taped to them. My wedding bouquet preserved under plexiglass...that got left in Canada. Christmas decorations made out of plant matter...left behind. Even my kid's old art project from playschool with macaroni taped to it...left behind at her godmother's.

Oh and about the purging...yup...it's worth it...we're at the stage now (almost unpacked) that even with the huge amounts we sold, gave away, donated, tossed out, we're still finding stuff in boxes and wondering, "why did we bother bringing that?" I'd not bother with camping gear. There's lots here. Maybe check BCF online...You can also get futons here pretty cheap and sofas...we got two new sofas from Super A Mart for just over $1000.

But I guess if you're looking to fill a whole container and justify the expense, then shipping your furniture might work out for you. We knew from the beginning that we wouldn't bother with furniture just because nothing we had was nice enough to ship...

Kristen: our neighbors are still coming in our house keeping their shoes on while we sit around in here barefoot...

Fish, thanks for my giggle of the day

pinkkristen

D'yknow, you're right about the Oakville/Toronto thing - i think the reason being, is i'm from a small village, so i would always say in reference with the larger city near to it!!

paularn

Thanks for the replies. Ok, so I'm back to bringing the leaf with me and declaring it. I honestly can't see the harm in it, it is sealed inside a photo frame and as I said, it has been painted and sealed with some sort of spray. But will the wood frame be an issue?

I would sell the futon, I'm not that attached to it....infact I'm not even sure I will have a need for it anymore either. its the packrat that I live with who sees me as trying to get rid of all his stuff and he'll go home with nothing. I think he looks at things as - we've sold the house, we have 2 cars here that we will get rid of, we have jobs that we will have to toss in to go back and we'll have none of that when we get there, so in his eyes, getting rid of some things (items/objects) is him having 'nothing' left...if that makes sense.

I looked at SuperAMart website a couple of weeks ago, this is what helped me decide to get rid of my couch and loveseat because I see that I can replace these down there for a reasonable (not outrageous) cost.

dollys_girl

I am actually just leaving Oakville in two weeks to finally make my journey to Perth! Send me a direct message if you want any quick tips or ins and outs on your first winter.

Hi everyone, I have not been on this board in a month or so. During that time, we finally got the word we were truly moving. My husband left for Perth on Nov 10th and I was left behind to sell house, cars, electronics, applicances, etc.

Just received word this morning that our lease application was accepted for a house in Wembley - Oh So Expensive - but close to downtown for my husband's commute.

Dororthy, I will follow up to our earlier email discussion about a get together in Perth once we arrive in January.

Paula, I'll see if we still have a chance to meet before we leave but our house is getting packed up next week and we physically leave Ontrario Dec 12th to go to Vancouver for Christmas with Family. On to OZ Dec 27th.

Japonica

The wood frame should be fine...we have various finished wood products that got in okay. They're more concerned with raw timber and tree branches etc. anything that could harbor fungi, insects etc. I had the most amazing Christmas wreath...a dreamcatcher style with real willow branches made by a Cree lady...I knew they'd take a look at the branches and confiscate it, so my best friend back in Canada inherited it. Sigh.

I'm a (reformed) pack rat. Decluttering our house after 2 kids and living in it for 11 years was a huge task--we started packing at the beginning of June and left in August, but even after the possession date for our house, I was still sifting and packing while staying at our friend's place...

Perhaps...a couple of options for you...storage there? If there's some things he doesn't want to get rid of but would be a pain to ship, someone could keep a few boxes.

Otherwise, I guess you'll have to have a chat with him about what's worth shipping (considering how expensive it is) and what isn't...ultimately he'll have to decide what goes in the boxes but if you could show him that most of the "I'll keep it in case we need it" things are available here for a reasonable price, then he only has to deal with sentimental items...

Good luck!

Japonica

Hope it all goes smoothly for you! Have a safe trip here to Perth.

comet555

Agreed. We just took it as a great opportunity to get new stuff. Even if/when we return to Canada we probably won't ship anything again. Just sell everything off and ship some boxes. For the most part I prefer that as you can buy things that really fit and suit the new house.

alzo

Been trying to figure out what to do with our RRSPs and came across a good idea which was run by a financial planner. It seems you do not have to be 65 to convert your rrsps to an rrif which allows you to withdraw a certain % per yr without paying the witholding tax. The key is to get the conversion done before you leave.

Other than this there does not seem to be any other way to take it out without paying the witholding tax.

If you need more info send me an email or message but like they say check with the holder of your rrsps to make sure it's the right thing for you.