Any ex-UK mumsnetters living in NZ

[KaybeeandZak]

Hi
we are looking at moving to NZ next year and are in two minds about what things to ship out there. . . . Has anyone taken things like tv's, stereos etc?
I am originally from Wellington but have been over in London for 5 years and have no idea whether any of our uk bought stuff will work back home!
Thanks

[KaybeeandZak]

Also what about car seats, did people take their ones from here????

[kjaysmum]

Hi, We moved from the Netherlands to NZ the year before last and brought a lot of our electrical stuff with us. The DVD player will only work if it is a World Zone player, I'm afraid I don't know about TV but radio/stereo won't be a problem. All the computer stuff works fine although it does get tedious having europian plug boards/plugs/adapters in the mix when trying to keep the electrics away from little fingers!! I also brought my car seat with me and although the AA here do recommend tethered car seats it's not the law. When you ship out it goes on the amount of cubic meters you take up not the weight so you can bring lots, make sure you take advantage of your big shipment as to get anything sent over later is pricey in comparison. Hope that helps, and by the way I love living in your home country! (smile)

[kjaysmum]

whoops

[buzzybee]

KaybeeandZak
Don't bring your TV with you unless you plan to hook up to SkyTV. It will only work with a digital connection, not with a normal terrestrial TV aerial.
NZ is on 240V though just like the UK so most electrical appliances do work fine - with a plug adaptor (or you need to replace the plug).
Like Kjaysmum I have continued to use our UK bought child carseats here. You would not be able to buy them here as they don't meet to local standard (regarding use of tether straps bolted to the car frame) but they are not illegal to use. In any event most people use booster seats with regular seatbelts from about age 3 anyway so depends on the age of your kids.
We used Crown Relocations, paid for a whole container and bought out as much stuff as we could squeeze inside it - inlcuding a car and motorbike! Ships go by volume, planes by weight so be careful what your airfreight. Ships take at least 6 weeks though (and up to 10 allowing for loading, unloading and customs clearance etc).

[buzzybee]

Oh and it pays to check out what duty you might need to pay. Most used goods are duty free but when we came back had to pay GST on the depreciated car and motorbike purchase price. Have a look at www.customs.govt.nz should tell you the rules. HTH!

[Shells]

Hi Kaybee and Zak, I'd agree with the others mostly. We moved earlier this year. Another thing to be wary of is customs generally. I don't think you can bring your hoover unless professionally cleaned, and nothing made of wicker. We used Excess International and I wouldn't recommend them. I thought they were crap. We didn't have a lot of spare cash, so I'm pleased we brought as much stuff as we did as things are expensive here, and when you're earning NZ dollars, they seem even more expensive! And its nice to have things that are different. As Buzzy says, it goes by volume, so you can get in quite a lot of stuff.

[Haribosmum]

I would recommend Anglo Pacific to move your stuff and I would advise to bring as much as you can but like said no wicker and nothing dirty (unless you want to pay the associated fees!). We moved here in Oct 05 and then came back to the UK and back to NZ 5 months ago. It's a great place to bring up kids. Just starting to get sunny here as well LOL!

[KaybeeandZak]

thanks everyone, thats all very helpful. I guess our wicker baskets from ikea will have to go

[ghosty]

We brought our wicker baskets ... MAFF just wanted to take a look at them, that's all.
That was 5 years ago though so maybe the rules have changed.
Have all outdoor stuff steam cleaned and be prepared for them to check them over again and insist they are steam cleaned again ...
They are terrified of foot and mouth and other nasties coming in.