drcallycat

Hi everyone - my husband and I are moving out to Auckland mid-Nov, although I am going first and he will come mid-Dec with our 3 cats once I've found us a house. I wondered what other people have done about shipping. I understand it takes 8-12 weeks if you share a container (which we probably will) so it looks like we may have to ship it all before we leave! I'm a bit worried about what we will use to live in in the Uk but also whether our stuff will get to us before Chrstmas. Does anyone have any suggestions of how they did it?? Many thanks, Clare and Jim

lardyl

Often depends on your visas as to when you can ship.
Most co.s will only ship if you have correct visas.
Suppose it depends on what sort of place you are coming over here to?
We rented a furnished place for a while so having no stuff was an advantage.
Bear in mind that you may incur charges if you need to leave your stuff with the NZ shippers - also your insurance situation may need to be reviewed under those circumstances.
We packed up, had to wait a bit for visas, then shipped and the stuff arrived about 2 months after we did.
Worked out OK for us.

drcallycat

We have our visas already in place so it is more just an issue of getting the timing right so we are not left with nothing over in Auckland but also here in the UK. I think we will have to make do with an airbed, a microwave and little telly in the Uk and ship everything else start of Nov. I'm gonna try to rent a place to live early Dec but it will be unfurnished. I'll be staying with a friend until then but don't want to intrude for too long! Thanks.

maisiep

I think the thing to consider is that you are going to be at one end or the other without your stuff - so which end will be less inconvenient? We shipped our stuff the day before we left ourselves and it took 4 months (but that's a whole other, annoying story!) to get here. Whilst we were renting a furnished place there were still loads of things we missed. Just silly stuff like saucepans, glasses, duvets (rented house was very cold!) - but it makes a difference to your day to day life. If I did it again, I'd ship the stuff much earlier and go without it in the UK, because at least there we had plenty of friends who could have lent us a couple of duvets, pillows, etc, etc, that kind of thing. Whereas here we didn't know anyone and as things are fairly expensive, it's not easy to find cheap replacements for things to use while you are waiting.

Good luck!

Cheesehead

Definitely ship as much as you can sooner rather than later and be prepared for things not to go to plan. We ended up in furnished rented accommodation for 4 weeks longer than planned because of delays to the shipment. Friends of ours here who came on the same flight as us (4th June) are still waiting for the arrival of their stuff which went groupage.
Depending on where you want to live, furnished is not that easy to find.

weejie

We sent our stuff 9 weeks before we left,felt it would be easier to borrow from friends and family than try to go without in NZ. Our stuff left the house on 24th April and arrived in Dunedin on the 5th July, the day after we did We had a motel for 2 weeks which allowed for MAF to do their thing and it was delivered to our rental on 17th July. It made life easier for the kids to have their stuff here right away. HTH

Phyl x

sary

I'm doing half and half. Half of the time the stuff is in the container I am here in GB and the other half of the time I will be in NZ. As weejie said, it has been easier to borrow stuff from family here in GB and camp for a short while in NZ in our new house whilst it is all novelty -I think/hope!

I am though sick of my uncomfy futon though and can't wait until my bed arrives in NZ!!!

willand tina_h

Cheesehead, do you mind me asking what comapny you rfrends used? Dont want to be using them thats all, lol. Ta Tina.x

willand tina_h

Phyl, do you mind if I ask what company you aslo used? We are stuck between pickfords and crown

Tina. x

GinnyB

I've heard that PSS are good - anyone know anything against them?

ronnie don

Toll translink in Dunedin sorted out our container from Lyttleton and did all the MAF checks onsite and delivered the container to our home here...All fab, good price and hassle free....my hubby also got a job there by being in the right place at the right time!!!

Cheesehead

Friends used Anglo Pacific. We used Pickfords - great. Have used them numerous times in the UK, Italy and France and have always had superb service.

willand tina_h

Cheers for that, think we are gonna settle with Pickfords too. HAppy days. Just need visas now though,

Cheesehead

Probably using the exact same people as we moved from Newport via the Cardiff Pickfords office. Really reliable.

weejie

Sorry not been in for a few days. We used Crown had a few items damaged( canoe!!!with big dent being main one) but packers were great at UK end. It was packed in truck fine but appears to have been not so well in container

Phyl x