Hi Dimond and welcome to the thread. I have currently just moved back from Tassie (Lindisfarne, Hobart) to the UK (going back next September!!). Hope some of these answers help, bearing in mind they are my own opinions:-

1. We used PSS from England to Tasmania and were unpacked by Scoobies when we got there. PSS didnt pack our stuff properly but Scoobies were great. When we packed up to come back to the UK a company called Wridgways in Hobart packed us up and they were fantastic, none of our stuff was broken and their sister company in the UK is John Masons. They too were brilliant at the UK end, would assume they will be just as good going into Tassie, we are using them next year to move us back as thought they were fantastic.

2. We bought a car on the mainland and came over by the Ferry. It is not necessarily cheaper buying a car on the mainland but you do definately have a lot more choice. If you buy the car in Melbourne you will have 3 months to get the car re-registered to Tassie plates, this doesnt cost too much and is quite easy to do through Service Tasmania (offices all over the place). The car has to be taken to one of their approved garages in Tassie (pay their small fee) and then you get a certificate given to you to say that it has passed Tassie testing. You then take that back to Service Tasmania, pay the rest of the fees and then collect your new plates a few days later.

3. We rented a car in Melbourne until we had purchased our own car, out of all the car rental companies we tried in and around Melbourne airport area none of them would let us take the car over to Tassie and leave it there, we would have to have brought it back to Melbourne. This was in November last year, dont know if it would have changed by now.

Good luck with the move, one of the other guys may be able to help you out too with some different advice.

Regards Corinne x

Hi and welcome!


You must be getting very excited about coming to Tassie soon, when do you arrive?

In answer to your questions:

1. We used Britannia Lanes in the UK, very happy with them at UK end, packed everything really well, at this end we had a company called Chess who were a bit slow with getting the container out of customs (but actually I don't think that was their fault) did a really good job of unpacking, and came back a couple of days later to pick up more packing stuff. We only had one broken glass and a chipped vase, so very impressed! When we booked our removals, we did not know where we would be living so we asked for a 30 mile radius of Hobart, make sure you have something similar so you do not get charged extra.

2. Not sure about buying a car on the mainland, Corinne has already given some info on that.

3. Most rental companies won't let you hire a car in Melbourne and return in Tas, I know because that was what we wanted to do, to take up the extra baggage allowance (we were then going to use the ferry over) There was one company who would allow you to do it sorry I can't remember which one) but they charged silly money for it!

Good luck with all your plans, shout up if there is anything else you want to know as there is normally someone who knows.

Sam

HI we used PSS they were brilliant, packed everything very well. Only breakages were from the idiots at this end.

I would have thought cars were cheaper on the mainland like everything else, in fact I had to wait for the car we bought from a motor company here to come from melbourne. I would presume extra was put on the price for getting it here?

When we came out here we flew into Sydney, we tried lots of companies to bring a rental over to Tasmania, only found one and it was thousands of dollars. However you can pick up a cheap rental once you are here.

Personally in hindsight I would buy the car on the mainland, more choice

Nice place Cygnet hope you enjoy Tassie

Many thanks Sammy T, Possums & Bishop 3912. We are flipping back and forwards UK to Cygnet a couple of times in the year as our house is being built so I am unable to say exactly when we move- probably around next Easter but we are definitely spending 2 weeks in February there which we are looking forward to not having been in Tassie in the summer before. But thanks for the info I will definitely steer Tassie removal firm towards Scoobies.

Buying a car on the mainland seems to be a good option especially as it offers the prospect of buying household essentials at IKEA in Melbourne on the way. The only problem will be storing it in Tassie for some months until we finally move. Anyone have covered storage they could let out?

Hi there are storage units all over Tas, have a look at this website http://www.selfstorage.com.au/search.php?input[state]=9

might be a daft question but why pay for storage why don't you wait and buy stuff when you finally move here?

Hi Dimond

you will be just down the road from us!! Cygnet is pretty. Do you have kids? A great school there (St. James), my girls go there.

Greetings Teabag,

Cygnet is nice, Huonville area also. Sorry no kids, they emigrated to Sydney area some years ago. PM me and we could meet up in February some time so we could get some tips from you.

Hi Dimond and a belated welcome from us!

Yep we bought our car on the mainland, the OH came over on ferry and me and the wee one flew over the next day and met him in Devonport. (personally I'm not good on boats, and the Bass Straight is a killer!!) Mainly because there is more choice, not necessarily cheaper though.

We used Crown they were very good, got all our stuff here in one piece and nothing went missing. They did use a different company this end, but can't remember their name, it was all good though.

Hi all

Just got back from a few days away at Freycinet National Park which was amazing!
We were lucky to have fantastic weather, ate lots of great food (and wine) saw dolphins at Wineglass Bay beach and even the children were well behaved!

Just what we needed after our first few months of settling in, a chance to remind ourselves why we moved to Tas

Sam

Where did you stay?

Glad you had a good time Sammy T. Good to have a nice break after all the settling in.

Hi

We stayed at the Freycinet Lodge which is good value for a family of 4 as the cabin slept 4 and buffet breakfast was included. The meals at the lodge are also great with stunning views thrown in.
The camp site just off Richardson's Beach also looked a good spot as you could roll out of your tent, straight on to the beach, I think its pretty popular in the summer as they have a ballot system for places.
So far, this definitely has to be my favourite place on Tas but we are looking forward to discovering more!

When is your UK trip?

Sam

we're flying Hobart-Sydney on Sat 20th, doing the Sydney marathon again, then flying to Manchester on Mon 24th on Singapore Air, and back out on 4th Oct.

Good luck for the marathon

And hope the trip back to the UK is a good one

Sam

Thanks-we'll let you know how the trip went.