Any recent immigrants to Australia around at the mo? Packing the house tomorrow...

[thumbwitch]

Actually, make that today - in about 6 hours.

Does anyone know wtf the weird restrictions on incandescent bulbs is all about? Apparently came in Feb 2009 and I can't work out if it is a specific manufacturer of incandescent bulbs that they are having the arse with, or whether it is part of the energy saving drive to go over to energy saver bulbs, which don't dim.. It seems to say on the website that I can bring them in if they are attached to a light fitting, but can I bring spares?

I am so not ready for this move - my head has been in the sand for so long now it's not funny - the house is in a mess, bits of stuff packed already, lots of stuff still lying around and I am on here just prior to going to bed for ~4 hours sleep. GAH!!

Any help gratefully accepted...[pathetic]

[savoycabbage]

Hi, I didn't know taht about the bulbs. We brought the bulbs in our lamps and we brought a few of the spare bulbs we had lying around. We had our container checked and they didn't say anything. I would have brought more if I could have done as the bulbs here are pathetic. When we go on SKYPE in the evenings the people can't see us. I have to get a lamp and shine it our faces in an interegation styleee.

[thumbwitch]

cheers savoy - it's just another PITA complication that adds to the misery of moving to Australia - it should be a really exciting time and I'm just HATING the whole process.

When did you move over there, if you don't mind me asking?

[ClaudiaSchiffer]

Why stress about bulbs? They do sell them over here you know

Where are you moving to?

[savoycabbage]

I got here in January. Five months ago today! We shipped our stuff at the end of October. Then my dh came over and I moved in with my sister with the dc. Our things arrived the week before Christmas and we came just after Christmas. My dh had found us somewhere to live and unpacked which made it all a bit easier!

It's bloody hard work. Try and bring EVERYTHING you can. Your cling film, washing up brush mop bucket, your bin, buy extra nappies and wipes if you are in that stage.

ELECTRICAL JACKS!!!!!!!!!! Buy lots of electrical jacks so you don't have to buy a convertor plug for everything you own.

[ninedragons]

Incandescent bulbs are still sold but I think it's going to be phased out in the next few years.

I hate low-energy ones. I will certainly be stocking up on incandescents before they're banned.

The real annoyance is that all the carbon saved from households tolerating shitty light is going to get given to industry as polluting credits.

[ninedragons]

Forgot to say, unless you are packing something banned and smelly (sausages, pine trees, marijuana), the probability of your cartons getting searched is pretty low.

We moved in November last year and they opened the box marked shoes (to check for mud on the soles) and the Christmas decorations (to check for pine cones, which are a huge no). That was all, out of a 20-foot shipping container.

[thumbwitch]

cheers ladies.
I have some lights that have silly type bulbs that are quite hard to find even in the UK - small screw fits candles, small bayonet candles at 25W, those kind of things. So I have a reasonably large stash of these bulbs cos I bulk buy (up to a point!) when I find them.

the removal guys didn't seem to know anything about it either and said "just pack 'em, it'll be fine" so hurrah.

Wasn't planning on bringing anything smelly/illegal/recreational - am gutted that I had to ditch my shell collection from Indonesia though! Have great memories there...

[ninedragons]

When are you arriving?

[LouLovesAeroplaneJelly]

If you write that you have bottles of wine etc in your list for customs they will charge you about $60 tax for it. If you post it to yourself then it's ok but if you pack it then you get taxed. No idea why.

[thumbwitch]

ninedragons - not sure when we're getting there, still haven't got the visa but am getting through the process. I don't think there is going to be any problem in the long run in getting the visa, what with now having both a DH and a DS as Australian citizens, but obviously we can't book flights yet. If all goes to plan we will be there by the beginning-ish of July, maybe later in July. Our stuff won't get there for 9-11 weeks anyway, so it doesn't matter too much - the longer we are here, the less time we have to wait for it in Australia!

Lou, I know, it's mental the amount of tax. The customs seem to be getting in on the act of posted alcohol as well, or maybe that's just internet purchases, and charging all sorts of tax on it then as well
We are just going to bring 6 bottles in with us, in our luggage - that will be our duty free allowance

Am shattered - shouldn't be here, should be asleep - the last 2 days were hell on earth and we still haven't finished - we have a few days to pack up the little bits left (there are a lot of little bits ) and then we can relax. Phew!

[Ozziegirly]

It's personal preference but I would disagree with savoycabbage. I didn't bring anything like that, I loved buying new stuff once I was here - and it's Australia, you can buy anything here that you can buy in the UK.

It costs a lot to ship it and kitchen stuff isn't expensive out here.

The only things I would stock up on are M&S knickers and vests!

One thing our delivery people said was make sure you are really detailed with what is in your boxes as then there is likely to be less delay at customs. I don't know how true this is, but ours cleared in about 3 days which I thought seemed quick.

Good luck. I'm in Adelaide and it's a glorious blue sky (if chilly) day!

[sunnydelight]

We had a stressful few days where we had sold our house, booked our flights and the shippers and our (PR) visa hadn't come through!

Where are you headed? We're in Sydney so always happy to meet up for a glass of wine. I don't do pre-school kids any more but can point you in the right direction to meet people with littlies, it's the easiest way to make friends.

[ninedragons]

Doesn't the shipping company need your PR visas before they can process your container?

Maybe it was because we were coming from China, but we had to show that we had permission to live in Australia before they packed us up. Perhaps they've had people in the past just chancing it

[worzelgummidge]

I know we didn't have to show visas before being shipped, but it has been almost 4 years since we shipped now, so very likely things have changed since then.

They are phasing out the incandescent bulbs. We have dimmer switches fitted in our lounge room and dining room, so are stocking up. It is getting relatively difficult to get them in the supermarkets etc already.

You are already packed now I hope, and the worst of the stress is over (for the time being). Like Ozziegirly we didn't bring any of those things. We even ditched all our towels and bed linen etc as what we had was past its best, and we knew we had weeks at this end to wait for our container, so we bought all new when we arrived. It was great to go out and shop and restock.

I am in Adelaide too. Where are you planning to live?

[thumbwitch]

ninedragons - it's not a problem cos DH is Australian so we're doing it all through him.

I wish they would think harder about these bloody energy saver lightbulbs - there are already health concerns about them re. the light wavelengths and the toxic chemicals inside them - and if you are using dimmers, then you're using less light energy anyway, so it's all a bit stupid I think. But then I would - I also like my dimmers!

Because we are staying at MIL's for a few weeks, we're not worried about waiting for some house things - the biggest nightmare is clothes and paperwork, tbh. Because of course it is winter in Australia so we have to have clothes for that (and I can't be doing with the idea of buying a whole lot of new ones when we get there ) and clothes for the next few weeks in our not-bad-at-all-summer here.

Still, if the worst comes to the worst, we can always get a single airfreight container to take the more urgent stuff when we go - that doesn't work out too drastically expensive and might be worth it to save my mental breakdown!

worzel - see previous posts for where we're going.

[eidsvold]

seriously I would not waste space on light bulbs - we use small bayonet ones and can get them in the supermarket. I would also not waste space on things like cling film, mops, buckets - very very cheap to buy.