Just got off the phone and been told our stuff has cleared customs and will arrive monday : : I am so excited!! The kids and i have been here 6 weeks now, 7 weeks monday and i am so totally over living with three mattresses four camping chairs, a table and little else, Christmas has come early for me!!
It has only taken 8 weeks door to door, all that stress as to whether it would be here for xmas was pointless!
Wridgeways are delivering it, any tips or anything to be aware of and do they unpack the lot? (not that i really care, i am just so bloody pleased its here!)

Emma x

I can still remember that excitment Emma! It's like Christmas coming early!

We used John Masons and I asked them not to bother to unpack the boxes but the unpacked all the furniture and put in the right rooms etc.

No point unpacking a load of lights, pictures etc all at once when you've potentially not got anywhere to put it or even decided yet!

(Mind you perhaps I should've got them to unpack them - I've still 3 boxes of pictures in boxes that have never gone up! )

i have to say that is one nice feeling when they arrive with your stuff

my kids were jumping around trying to find boxes with their toys in and were so excited

pickfords done ours and unwrapped everything and took it all away and were done by lunchtime

We used John Mason too Why is it wridgeways this end??!!

Is it because that John Mason is not actually in Aus and this is there partner!!

Wow that is quick Emma!
Know the feeling of living with bare essentials....

We didn't get the guys to unpack as previous said, you're not sure where you want things, only drawback was we were left with loads of packing boxes, which we had to take to the local tip.

Hi Emma .... glad to hear things are good with you! We had Wridgeways here too and they were fab! They will tell you that they are only allowed to unpack onto a surface/table top (health and safety!!). So bear that in mind if you want the empty packing/boxes going with them. Thank god we got them to take the bulk of the packaging as we would've been buried in the stuff otherwise .... even the lads had to laugh when they opened one box to find a huge wad of paper wrapped around a tiny glass lemon squeezer! As fast as they were emptying things onto a surface, we were whipping them into cupboards .... so we could get them to keep going with the unpacking!

Hi Emma
Bet you are looking forward to the container arriving, it's a great feeling. Hope you don't mind if I give you some tips on how to manage the unloading as it all goes by in a flash:
1) Have general agreement with partner as to what is going where
2) Write big notices for the unpackers and tape to the top of the doorframe for each room (eg bedroom 1, dining room etc). Then they are visible even when the door is open. Put some direction signs in the hallway if needed so they know which way to head. Write up a code for yourself so you know which bedroom is whose.
3) Set yourself up a little station with a pen, you will be given a list of box numbers and descriptions that was prepared by your shippers in the UK. Some of the descriptions are pretty generic and some inaccurate (eg they mistook a desk frame for a bed frame and labelled my kites as fishing rods, but most of it will be roughly correct)
4) the removalists generally come in a team of at least 3 and move really fast. They will shout out box numbers to you as they come in and you are expected to mark them off the list. You then shout which room you want the box in. As the day wears on they can get confused about which number they are carrying and you will find you have duplicates so don't be afraid to double-check the numbers with them. At the end of unloading you are supposed to sign the document to agree all those items have been delievered, it messes up any insurance claim if you haven't highlighted any discrepancies.
5) Have your partner unpacking the big stuff so you can get rid of a large amount of packing materials on the day. There is tons of it and it's great to get some out of the way ASAP as it can fill a small room. So have some scissors handy and don't bother with unpacking the fragile or small things, it would be a shame to ship them all this way only for them to be broken on arrival in the mayhem. Stick to unpacking sofas, mattresses, chests of drawers etc in the rooms they are going to stay in, and dump the packing materials outside.
6) The unpacking men take a break at a specific time, have cold drinks & glasses on hand for them and you, and use this time to double-check stuff is where you want it, and unwrap quickly. You can check with them in advance what time break time is. If anything is in the wrong room grab them before they start unloading again and get them to shift it. You may think you can do it yourself later but this will be the last time you have several strong men at your bidding so make use of it!
7) At the end ask the removal men to tell you if they have caught any walls / doors with the furniture. They don't seem to have a problem admitting when it's happened, it's an accident and part of the job sometimes. My removal company paid out $100 for taking a small chunk of plaster out of a doorway, they were very pleasant about it, just gives me some cash to either touch up the damage or pay a fine at the end of my rental contract.
8) Sign the document at the end making a note of any discrepancies and property damage.
9) Relax, it's over :-)

I'm just planning packing at the moment, but excellent advice there. Have saved it to refer to later. Thanks!

Great advice
Jealous of your organisation :-)
Our container left our home on 16th oct and ship arrived today in brissie :-)
We move into our rental on 14th so hoping to clear customsby then....

Good luck emma

it is like christmas and the kids will have a ball..............and you will think what the **** did we bring that for...ours was a full waste paper basket lol

We thought the exact same WTF....?!

One thing with our packers in the UK, they must have been playing a game! We had flatpacked alot of furniture - yep it's IKEA stuff and it was placed alltogether, simple for the packers don't you think.....ermmm no....when we come to put back together we were missing some parts, like a leg from a table and a foot from a unit and we were thinking just great. So we had to unpack every single box, and found the foot of the unit in with kitchen glassware - why, why why you have to ask; and as for the table leg well that was in a box with something completely different from the spare room!

I think they do it to liven up their day! BUT it does P*** you off!