Essentials to bring :)

Hi guys.

would love people's tipspand suggestions on things to bring over that may be more expensive over in Australia.

I have 3 children, 10, 6 & 1.

Clothes, Food Etc. ...

I know we will get used to all the changes overtime.

Thanks. X

If you're bringing a container bring everything you can in terms of household stuff, not because it's more expensive but because the little things cost a surprising amount to replace.

Clothes wise it's worth stocking up in the sales

for the coming Australian season, it can seem expensive until you know where to shop and you'll have enough to do without clothes shopping when you first arrive.

Food I really wouldn't bother, could easily spoil in the container and customs are more likely to give your container a through check.

If I could choose again, I wouldn't bother bringing anything.

For us, most furniture didn't suit the house style here so we have only kept a few items that we shipped. We have also replaced most appliances and all of our beclothes as the beds are different sizes here. If you don't want the hassle of shipping, K Mart does all essential items seriously cheap until you can decide want you want. Gumtree also has some seriously cheap furniture. We bought temporary furniture on Gumtree on arrival and sold it againwhen our own arrived. Made a good profit on it.

So glad to read this Milliem, Iam coming over with my husband and two children in May heading for Perth, we having starting selling our belongings as moving in with the inlaws in jan till we leave, we are coming only with our clothes as decided not to ship and buy cheap to begin with there! Thinking we were mad haha.

We had a full container including having our car in it.

We bought everything new the day after we arrived

Super A Mart for furniture

Kmart for the basics to get us started

It was great fun buying all new

Shoes, business suits and shirts if you need to dress corporately (can get these here but $$$ but be sure you get lighter weight stuff), antique furniture if that's your thing (costs a bomb here).

Food widely available in Australia.

Agree with the comment about much of the furniture doesn't fit or suit the houses here. Our sofa in the UK would look lost in our living room here. Even our UK KS bed looks tiny in the middle of the main bedroom.

We brought personal effects,

clothes

bedding (as we shipped our bed)

towels (good quality ones here are stupid expensive)

all kitchen crockery, pans, gadgets (apart from toaster)

Kids toys

books/CS/DVDs'

Shoes

artwork/pictures

nick nacks

blanket box, chair, desk and our KS bed

lamps

That was about it. Since being here we bought a new sofa, found 2 great sets of table and chairs second hand, Welsh dresser second hand. Fridge and washing machine were given to us. Kids bed, passed on to us. Double bed for guest room, new from Ikea.

I'd stock up on kids clothes, good basic items for yourselves, shoes, underwear, hair bands/ties etc (silly price here when you can buy 20 for a quid there). Also if you plan to ship your beds, then the bedding and linen to go with them. Bed sizes are different here. Towels in all sizes if you like decent ones.

Food. Don't ship any. Not worth it and some might not be allowed in. If there is some specific brand you kids will only eat, check and see if its sold here and perhaps try to get them used to other brands before you leave if its not. Some things have the same name but actually taste different here I have found but its fine. You can still find most things or something close to them. And besides, you wait 3 months for the container to turn up and have to make do without all that stuff till then anyways.

One thing that does not exisit here food wise (and I for one am very glad) are the Petits Filous pots.

We brought the majority of stuff, rented a furnished rental and moved into our home as our container arrived. Despite having brought a lot we still needed quite a bit of stuff, outdoor settings, extra sofa's and it would have cost us far more to replace the things we brought than the cost of the container, but everyone is different

So glad to read this Milliem, Iam coming over with my husband and two children in May heading for Perth, we having starting selling our belongings as moving in with the inlaws in jan till we leave, we are coming only with our clothes as decided not to ship and buy cheap to begin with there! Thinking we were mad haha.

We did pretty much the same when we moved and TBH i have not regretted it, so don't worry about it, there are plenty of bargains to be had here if you look for them, it also means you can buy as and when you want rather than being in limbo waiting for the container. Lots of luck with the move

Cal x

Thanks so much everyone . X

would love people's tips and suggestions on things to bring over that may be more expensive over in Australia.

Bring your standard whatever now clothes etc...

Given how quickly children grow there is no point stocking up on five years worth of clothes and shoes. Just a waste of time and money. Target and Kmart are super cheap for adults and kids clothes, shoes and bedding.

But don't bother bringing anything extra - unless you like reading A LOT.

New books are a bit expensive in Australia. But second hand books are really cheap.

Apart from books, everything else including clothes (despite what some say) are cheap.

Save on shipping costs and storage costs and just buy things here.

Cheap places to purchase just about anything from are:

Kmart

Target

Fantastic Furniture

Gumtree

eBay

Red Cross or Salvation Army

Aldi

Costco

Bunnings

Trash Nothing: https://trashnothing.com/groups/australia/new-south-wales-act/

Anything you can buy in Dublin you can get here pretty much.

There are quite a few dedicated Irish shops here too for food etc...

Shoes, business suits and shirts if you need to dress corporately (can get these here but $$$ but be sure you get lighter weight stuff), antique furniture if that's your thing (costs a bomb here).

 

Food widely available in Australia.

Spot on. I ended up buying a cheapo, made in China chicken skin pair of work shoes here when we first arrived for $90. That was at the time we had $1.40 to the pound. When I went back to the UK, I bought some handmade, made in England shoes for $200 a pair at the exchange rate of the day. I still have them and they look brand new. The cheap Chinese crap lasted about a month.

A few pointers on things you might want to bring:

1. Medicines, plaster, TCP etc - all an absolute rip off here. I nearly had a fit when a bottle of children's cough medicine cost me $18!

2. Expensive shampoos/conditioners. The ones my wife likes are nearly $20 here, but they were three for a tenner in Waitrose.

3. Hi-Fi and home cinema equipment - rubbish choice here and expensive

4. Books (such as cookbooks) - absolute rip off in Australia

However, the thing we regret not bringing most is a car. All cars are expensive in Australia, but European cars are stupidly expensive. We could have spent ten grand on a used Merc, BMW or Audi in the UK, shipped it and doubled out money. Things are a little bit different now the exchange rate is higher, but back in 2011 we could have ended up driving round in a high end German car for the price of some crappy Holden here in Melbourne. Oh well...

Bring a ten year supply of bisto gravy granules :laugh:

Bring a ten year supply of bisto gravy granules :laugh:

or just buy it from Coles...

So glad to read this Milliem, Iam coming over with my husband and two children in May heading for Perth, we having starting selling our belongings as moving in with the inlaws in jan till we leave, we are coming only with our clothes as decided not to ship and buy cheap to begin with there! Thinking we were mad haha.

Hi Loulou, we are also heading to Perth in May (26th) although we don't have any family to head to, but have rented a holiday let up near Jondalup. We have two kids 15 and 13, whereabouts are you heading for? We are thinking of aiming for around Woodvale as the school there came highly recommended from a friend of a friend who is a highschool teacher.

Laura

or just buy it from Coles...

Yes well I was being slightly sarcastic

We had a full container including having our car in it.

 

We bought everything new the day after we arrived

 

Super A Mart for furniture

 

 

Kmart for the basics to get us started

 

It was great fun buying all new

did shipping the car cost on top of shipping container, as this sounds a cheaper option for us if we can fit it in. also im guessing you can fill up the car with boxes and items too?

Maria

Hi Laura, sorry only now seen your post! Flying out the 1st may staying at the quest hotel in mandurah for 3 weeks hopefully going to use the first two weeks to take a look at some suburbs and schools before we decide where to rent, there are people I know in jondalup and they love it! Good luck with everything xxxx

Hi guys.

 

would love people's tipspand suggestions on things to bring over that may be more expensive over in Australia.

I have 3 children, 10, 6 & 1.

Clothes, Food Etc. ...

I know we will get used to all the changes overtime.

 

Thanks. X

Food a definite no no I would say

did shipping the car cost on top of shipping container, as this sounds a cheaper option for us if we can fit it in. also im guessing you can fill up the car with boxes and items too?

 

Maria

No you can't fill up the car if it's in a container with furniture etc it needs to be totally empty We are using a 40ft container for all furniture household belongings etc plus car Around £5200 plus insurance

You will also need an import permit for the car and specific rules to get it on the road in Oz so you really need to consider is the car itself worth it

Food a definite no no I would say

Not necessarily, most food is ok. Just check the rules and don't bring diary stuff, fruit, veg. meat, fish etc.

We brought everything but I reckon about a 1/3 never even got unpacked and most of the remainder was replaced within a year. Even so, I think I would still do the same again.

Apart from books, everything else including clothes (despite what some say) are cheap.

Save on shipping costs and storage costs and just buy things here.

Anything you can buy in Dublin you can get here pretty much.

There are quite a few dedicated Irish shops here too for food etc...

I would totally agree with this - personally speaking if we had our time again we would only bring clothes and personal items. A lot of furniture etc we had suffered some wear & tear during the move and really didn't suit our new house when we arrived - we went from a townhouse in our village to an expansive 4 bedroom bungalow in Oz. Plus I think there is something therapeutic in casting aside a lot of your bigger possessions as you are making a new life.

My one regret was not bringing across a carton of Branston Pickle :laugh:

I would totally agree with this - personally speaking if we had our time again we would only bring clothes and personal items. A lot of furniture etc we had suffered some wear & tear during the move and really didn't suit our new house when we arrived - we went from a townhouse in our village to an expansive 4 bedroom bungalow in Oz. Plus I think there is something therapeutic in casting aside a lot of your bigger possessions as you are making a new life.

 

My one regret was not bringing across a carton of Branston Pickle :laugh:

My local Woolys is selling Branston at the moment, i saw it last week in the UK section when i was getting my PG Tips and Jelly Tots !! lol

Cal x

School shoes. Get them fitted for a fresh pair, just before you depart. Also check how strict school is about them. All the bumpf they gave us said black shoes. Went to shop in Frankston that sold Clarkes etc. For daughter came out $137 plus tax (only shop I have noticed so far to price tag items, less tax !!(Peter Ormam shoes))

lighter. 2 days at school and she is wearing runners 'like all the other kids' Boys runner style black shoes at same shop cost $80, plus tax.

All that after spending $680 at uniform shop.

Needed some red wine after that day, $2.50 at Aldi, all I could afford by then !