jim bugg

If you get in touch with most of the firms that advertise on here, im sure they would be able to sort shipping for you, if you drive your stuff to their depot. We have had 3 of the main shipping firms round in the last few weeks, and they all said dropping stuff at the depot can be catered for with prior arrangement.

(im taking my camper in a box, so it may be easy to load at the depot, than in our street!)

We have now driven most of the east coast of Oz in a camper, and loved it. We also have a kombi that we are shipping over when we move this year.

Big things we have learnt:

Campsites in oz are nearly always far better than in the uk

Cleanliness and upkeep have on the whole been better than we are used to in uk

Dont bother with carrying a shower and toilet, its just an expensive store cupboard!

Booking sites in advance has only been an issue in school holidays, public holidays, and grand prix week in Melbourne!

Book the camper early has always got us a good deal.

Go the opposite way to everyone else for a good deal too! ie start in Cairns and finish in Melbourne, as you then save on the one way hire as you are bringing a previous rental back to base, it may even be worth finding a good deal, and ask about doing a van swap in sydney to save the company relocation fees.

Also, all the sites we went to had gas barbies, so armed with a $15 bar be mate, look at coles, you dont even have to have a cooker.

A few sites we remember:

Main beach touring site in Surfers is nice, across fro the beach, and a nice walk into surfers, maybe 1.5 miles

Lane cove in Sydney, National park site, 5 minute walk from the station, our first meeting with posums was there at the barbe

Kiama had a nice site, cant remember the name, just south of Sydney

A few places off the main road to see:

Hyams beach at Jervis bay, South of woolongong, unless you go know you'll drive by on the main road, lovely place with the most gorgeous beach.

Cape otway light house, down on the great ocean road - on the road in look out for koalas

We have booked with Mauri, Britz, and motorhome bookers, it really is a case of comparing prices to what suits.

Customs have no concerns about the condition of the vehicle at all. Their only issues are with regards to illegal items being shipped so make sure there are no fireworks, guns, etc.

 

Quarantine will be looking for any bio-security issues - basically anything that could continue growing in Australia which could be bugs, spiders, untreated wood, etc but again they have no concern over rust or other areas of the vehicle condition as long as it's not bulky areas of dirt, mud, etc

 

Rust on the brakes and structure of the vehicle would be a roadworthy issue and looked at as part of the road registration process. If there are any major issues then you could have them fixed prior to shipping or take care of them at this end prior to registration, but it would not stop the vehicle being allowed for import just to set your mind at ease.

 

Regard,

 

Craig Moor

Iron Lady Imports

Excellent news, that was what i was half expecting, but reading all the posts about scrubbing tools, and the like, i had a moment of fear when i was thinknig about the parts that get hot ie brake drums on my bus. The structure,being a claifornia import is very good, the only bad patch has been cut out and replaced over the winter. All the underside in sealed in waxoyl, and i try to deal with any issues as i see them.

Do iron lady do vehicle inspections prior to shipment at all? i have bug bombs (as used on aircraft for fumigation) that i can pop off a few prior to shipment, and all the interior is prepared wood from VW back in the 70's.

its all getting exciting now, that in less than a year we should be driving in QLD!!

Hey Iron Chef,

Fantastic advice dude. I've trawled through 9 pages of info on here and learned a great deal, thank you, but nothing quite matches my situation.

My wife has been in Perth for 4 weeks on a 457 visa and I'm going to join her in 3 weeks. We have a 1980 registered VW Type 2 Bay window camper that has been part of our family for 5 years and we're reluctant to leave it.

It has a Devon Moonraker conversion which I've never seen available in Oz and we'd want to ship to keep it, not to make money.

We haven't even looked at costs yet but I' estimate its value in the UK to be whatever we can get for it. Current prices seem to be between £5k and £25k! (There are a lot of chancers out there!)

I realise I probably won't be able to get the paperwork sorted before I go but I just want a rough estimate of costs, door to door.

 

Being a classic there's some superficial rust and I've heard horror stories involving excited customs types and hammers that make me nervous.

 

I'd also intent on claiming LAFHA if I get a job when I arrive and you mentioned previously that may have some affect on our ability to import it.

 

The bus is in my name and holds a UK MOT cert but is currently garaged pending a resolution (either shipping or selling).

 

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all,

Portlaunay - did you import in the end, we are planning to take our '78 westy, that we imported from california 6 yeas ago, so definately part of the family

Iron chef - will customs get upset with rusty brake drums, and the normal underside corrosion on a 40 year old van?? thats my only concern, as my van is in good nick, but do ineed a show standard underside??

 

 

This is more of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, as it's a little hard to put a value on it. I'm presuming it holds sentimental value either way . It would probably not give you a windfall money wise, but it would certainly be an interesting addition to Aussie roads.

 

 

Definitely worth doing!

Thankyou, yes, it is sentimental, but also on our last 2 moves around uk, it has been a good conversation starter, and we have made friends in the VW community through it.

Do they require much converting? and can i keep it as a left hooker?

Hi i have a 1978 LHD VW westfalia, rust free cali import, 2000cc, approx £15k

we are thinking of bringing it, but expect it to be in the personal preference bracket.