Thanks for that one - I have been debating what to do now I know I will be doing the underwear in box by myself!!! Don't want them rifling through my Bridget Jones'

Hi. Our shipper, Pickfords, wouldn't allow us to pack ourselves. Mostly to do with a) insurance and b) satisfying the Aussies that we hadn't stored a dozen different types of illegal bits and pieces in the nooks and crannies. The shippers had to sign a declaration to AQIS as to what was in the container so doing it themselves was the best way for them. There was not much difference in the price with others and the packing and efficiency was so very worthwhile. The lack of stress definitely worth it too

Just said 'goodbye' to all of our worldly goods...bound for Perth!
.....................THANK GODDD!!!.......................

We will need the next 3 wk to recover (flight 3wk and 4 days!!), took 8 people 3 hours to load the container....not to mention the entire week to pack the house up!!

Just had a lovely bath...now to bed! Yes, I know it's 5pm!!

Lisa,xxxx

hmmm but i am rather fussy
i have a lot of craft stuff, which i would like pack in a certain way and some packed in with certain ones, so i know where they are later on... u know..

i see why they want to do everything themselves.... tho

but just thought... its all a bit personal for someone to go all over your things...

lol i know!! how bout some really "worn" ones... that i dont want to get rid of! LOL.... and how about some reallyyyyyy personal stuff... not going to name it LOL

Your not one of those people , who leaves Toys under the bed, or the odd porn mag ,between the mattress and base...i have seen it all...mm

We had to separate stuff, what was going what wasn't etc. So I got some of those clothes storage zip up bag things (huge ones) and put all my clothes in them and had one for bedding etc - then I knew nobody was touching anything. They just took the bags and put them inside the boxes. (am funny about people touching stuff!!!)

Lol! I got rid of that sort of personal stuff just the thought of them finding that was enought to make me squirm!!! And yep I too have those really worn ones!! As for the cleaning I am having a mare tryin to clean the mountain bikes the one thing I asked the OH to do before he went and he hasn't done it Then I am panicing how clean is clean - how much do they look at it do they look in amongst the gears etc That will take forever to ensure totally clean

yes i was going to do all that.. who did you use to ship?
as i heard some shippers dont let you pack any stuff...? i think one of them was PSS

lol.... what do you think i am!! im totally "clean" me

i'll just stuff them between clothes.. and vac bag them all!!!

We are self-packing at the moment. I've emigrated 3 times so far already (this will be my 4th) and done several house moves besides so I have quite a bit of experience to draw on for this.

1) Packing the actual container is merely an excercise in logistics. It's the packing of your house-hold stuff into boxes that's the part where you'll spend most of your energy.
2) Lots. If you want it done quickly, hire the packers to do it. If you want it done correctly, do it yourself.
3) I'll find out in a few weeks when the container arrives and will post back but my inventory is exhaustive and accurate so I'm not expecting any problems - certainly nothing over and above what I would expect if I had hired packers.
4) NONE! I just spent the past couple of weeks packing and inventorying as I go. So far, I've broken nothing. On ALL my previous moves where professional packers were involved, there have been lots of breakages and lots of stupid packing techniques that left me with a nightmare on the other end trying to sort it all out.

If you have the time and wherewithall, you can save a ton of money by doing things yourself and there's no reason why you shouldn't but it's not for everyone.

- CDM

Thanks CDM for your views - always great to hear comments from those who have done it all before. First time for us moving after over 30 years, so it will not be easy trying to sort out what we should take with us and what to leave behind. Will definitely need the time to pack ourselves and think it will take over a month - I feel terrified at the thought but guess many have done it before us.

Forget a container altogether I say, just pack a couple of suitcases and sell off everything else. Thats what we did

Ok,so if people try and self pack,do they literally just drop a 20ft container ouside your house for a set time?

And with buying all the packing materials,what costs are we looking at?

And what is the costs of set packing?
Do the shippers frown at self packing?
And when people do a inventory,is that when you say put say packed and boxed glasses together and give the box a number and write that number down on the inventory and just put "glasses"?

So they have a list of boxes with numbers on which relates to the list?

cheers

Each box is numbered and that number corresponds to a packing list where our packers wrote down what they'd just filled that box with, ie shoes, clothes, kitchen equipment. You need to be very specific as if you are not then you are likely to have an indepth quarantine inspection - so I have been told anyway.