jjonboy

plus there#s the whole feeling of being reunited with "old friends". we felt so much more at home when our stuff arrived.

also agree strongly with comment above. we have made a nice little profit in selling our unwanted stuff on the aussie ebay.... www.ebay.com.au

particularly the ikea stuff goes like hot cakes.... aussies often have a penchant for anything "European"

ljj

Sorry to 'rock the boat' and disagree with what most have said. We came with 6 suitcases, a dolls house and a set of golf clubs between 4 of us and would definitely do it again.

It all depends on the quality of your stuff and if you have things of sentimental value. You should be able to get double baggage allowance when migrating. Most of our furniture we had for a while and i wanted new furniture when I got here! All you need is a friend who's younger brother/ sister is buying their first house (or people separating and needing to furnish pretty quickly and cheaply).
Besides we had an ordinary sized fridge freezer in the UK You need a huge one here for everything you need to keep cold + a bar fridge as well if you entertain a lot like we do!
The kids were allowed one suitcase each for toys and games and they sold everything else (really easily) to friends especially Disney videos etc which they had outgrown. We gave them the money to buy new with when they got here... they had a ball! It was good bargaining as well, you know "mum and dad need to look at cars THEN we will go to Big W to look at toys for you"

We bought a very good quality king-sized bed and furnished the rest of the house pretty reasonably here in Oz. We've only been here 2 and half years but we've not found the quality bad at all, nothing broken or tatty yet.

I have friends that had so much trouble with the packing of items that they went without things for about 9 weeks and bought things "just to be going on with cos you need to sit on things/ eat off things/ boil water with". The week before their stuff arrived they didn't know what else they could possibly need and most of it remained unpacked in the garage!

I enjoyed having a good clear out, unflattering and starting again.

Louise

Hutch

Yea, I'm with you. Couple of things we *have* to ship, such as as the computers and associated gubbins, because they're our livelihoods and our son Josh's toys. Everything else is going. Between the cost of shipping here, storage there, taxes, AQIS fees and transport to the new house - it just ain't worth it for a load of cheapo Ikea stuff. My parents on the other hand had a load of very nice antique furniture and employed the services of a 40ft!! container.

Keebs

If it's good/working condition then bring everything, you won't get what you paid for it if you sell it privately and then when you get here you'll have to spend money on buying it all again - pointless really, and it's the little incidental things that add up.

Keebs

Wendy

I'm not taking anything. It's all being sold with the house.


I'm a typical woman and want new things for my new life

Paul&Nic

AGHHHH! ... I hate these threads!

Well ONLY because I can't decide what to do! ...

I've been goin on with the view that if it's of decent quality and condition ... bring it!!

Now I dunno ...

Or maybe I just don't wanna clean the mower! ...

Wendy

I really don't want the hassle of it all. That's my main reason for not taking anything. Most of it needs replacing anyway

Cheetah7

Have you heard anything yet Paul?

Ive been thinking about you.

Paul&Nic

Well I rushed down to a knock at the door this morning thinking it was the postman and it was ........... the man to fix the window ... ... lol

Any day if it's gonna happen Sam, any day! ... :scared:

Stormz

Bring it all! Except your gardening equipment and wellies... customs will see them on the inventory and rip you a new one.

Bring your fridge though, even if it`s not a `legal` one, as fridges cost a bomb out here and you may get it through.

Oh, and buy yourselves a load of Aussie-UK plug adaptors, and bring all your extension leads etc. Plug the Aussie adaptor in the wall and then your UK extension thing in and wa-hay you have a load of UK plugs on one strip.

the adaptors cost about $20 each here.

cheri-pie

We are going to try to sell the contents with the house too. All of the furniture is very big, bulky and heavy (don't know if weight makes a difference?) but it was all bought for this particular house and fits in very well. To bring it all over and try to cram it all in a smaller rental house seems crazy to me. However we have tried to work out the resale value and it will be hardly anything in comparrison to what we paid for it.

I'd rather just leave everything and start afresh, but we'll have to wait and see when we sell the house.

Cheri x

breezeboylan

Someone else just like me. I'm even trying to convince my OH that I need all new clothes as well! I dont want to bring anything. I love the idea of starting completely fresh with a whole new life

HiddenPaw

Hardwood or softwood frame tho? Jointed or glued? What type of filling in the cushions? Sorry, the quality of a sofa is often in the bits you can't see. The leather isn't necessarily the most expensive component.

HiddenPaw

Yeah, bring it all....if you've got sole-use container fill it up! Nothing more tedious than having to shop for a new ironing board, clothes airer, etc. Plus the fact that just when you need something you realise you left it behind!

It was OK going out buying white goods - kind of exciting (as shopping generally is for the fairer sex), but all the little things like ironing board... Plus all the little things add up to a massive amount...I'm sure you'd rather spend the money on a weekend exploring your new country than trawling round Bunnings and Mitre 10!

Stuck

Take it all. It will all work. We were told our UK Dect telephones wouldnt work and did not take them. They would have worked. We brought everything back to the UK as well, including contents of enormous house, dog and two cats and car for less than $10000 - there are ways and means my friends. We brought our Oz telephones to Uk and they work fine. It will cost you more to buy again.