DazAmy

Hi all, we moved over in September 2014 from Essex, we are living in Lilydale. We have two boys, 15 & 8 and would love to meet up, Amy & Darren :-)

Thanks to everyone for posting. I certainly won't take out insurance with the removal company :-)

Thankyou for your response - just to be clear, I wasn't thinking of insuring only a few items, I will insure the lot - I just meant that there really are only a few things I would be upset with losing, namely some of my kids items. Has anyone insured a 'bulk' number rather than an itemised list?

Hi everyone - I'm after a bit of advise/your experiences. We have the shippers in next week to pack up the hosusehold goods. I'm really unsure what to do about insuring our goods. The company I am shipping my goods with is, of course, trying to get me to take out insurance with them - I already know it's more expensive than going independently. The problem I have is, they want me to itemise everything and value it all - this may sound like a pathetic excuse, but I just don't have the time or the inclination! I know there are companies who will insure a total value and I would prefer to go down this route. There are a few items I want insured (Apple Mac for example) but I'm not too worried about most things - the chances of it all being damaged/lost is small. I am told by my shipping company that if I insure in bulk I will have trouble claiming for anything and that it will be so much easier if I've listed each item - again I believe they are trying to pressure me with scare tactics. What have you done - did you itemise your insurance, go with a bulk number or did you not bother at all?

Jumping on the bandwagon, I'm here all the time but haven't posted much. We exchange on our home this week, completing next week and moving to Melbourne, eastern suburbs, at the end of August. I feel the same, really flippin' scared now - this was all very exciting until things started to become real! We are leaving a beautiful home, good jobs (that we both hate!), the kids are doing well at school (7 & 15) and my OH's family. We are off to Melbourne where my brother and his huge family are settled (they've been there 20 years) but we have no jobs to go to, no home, nothing but the cash in our pockets, suitcases and our household goods!! We are both 36. We know it will all be fine, we've been through this over and over, it's been 3 years in the planning but it's just now that we have resigned form our jobs, the house is being packed up next week and flights are being booked that the wobbles are setting in. We're after the adventure, the sun, the sights, new beginnings - we have no intention of having the 'same' life we lived here in the UK, we WANT a different life. We have my family who we will live with when we arrive, we've spent extended holidays with them and have absolutely loved the people and the lifestyle, we've already got some friends there - however, we were on holiday and know it's not real life as such. But they can't wait to have us there, will help us with all the things we need to organise as soon as we arrive. I am telling myself it's all very normal to feel this way now, to wonder if it's the right thing to do and shouldn't we just stay - but deep down, we would never have started all this without really wanting it. We've had an easy route to Oz, I was born in NZ, my parents migrated in the 70's, but I've been back here since I was 2 years old - I feel this is in my blood, that it's something I need to do and I am extremely lucky that I have a husband & children who are more than willing to do this with me - they are all up for this, I am not dragging them kicking and screaming - my 15yo son is the most excited which is a relief. We have not spent the thousands of pounds and completed endless forms that some of you have had to (I feel for you and would have done the same if I had to!) - simply one visa application for my husband which was granted inside of 6 weeks (myself and the kids are NZ citizens), we'd be silly not to try. We are finding it very emotional now, we knew it would happen but I think we all kind of hoped it wouldn't be too bad - well it is! We have always maintained we would give it a year, make a decision whether we would then give it another year and see how we go, we're not saying goodbye, just see ya later, nothing is forever. The truth is we've lived through really good and really bad times and we are still a solid happy family, we have a pact, if any one of us is unhappy, we come back, no one of us is more important than the other. Best of luck to everyone, we feel that the worst that can happen is we come back to the UK with a smaller bank balance, a sun tan and some more life experience (is that so terrible?), we'd rather give it a shot than regret it for the rest of our lives :-)

First original post - sorry about the rant, I'm really quite upset! I've been trying to convince the husband that we should take our beloved 1979 VW Campervan with us when we go to Melbourne at the end of August. He was concerned about the costs and effort vs. value as I am sure most people are. So I go about obtaining quotes and talk him into it as the numbers weren't too bad. However, it seems a large cost was never disclosed to me (out of confusion, nothing else) and now the cost to ship the camper, all the fees it entails etc, is coming out at almost £5k plus insurance - for a camper that's monetary value which is around the £10k mark, it just does not seem worth it to me anymore either. There is a lot more sentimental value of course but money talks. Just when you think you have everything organised and sorted in your head............ Sorry again for ranting, I'm so glad I checked the quote again as otherwise I wouldn't know about this particular cost (in the region of $1,900.00) until I had the bill at the other end when I'd have no choice but to pay! Anyone thinking of taking a vehicle, please check you have included allowances for everything and a little bit more. Looks like we will have to sell the camper and buy another :-(

Hi Patsmb - wow really! Was it expensive??

Oh I see, well that would take care of the camping equipment I suppose, shame you can't stuff it full hey! Yes I would worry with RORO too. I'm thinking 250 cu ft is rather large for personal effects, maybe not furniture etc, but until I have decided what to take I don't even know what size containter to get! I think we will really regret not taking her with us, I constantly check Aus versions of ebay etc and you're right, they're more expensive and lots of them have been 'Australianised' (completely made up term by myself)which I am not keen on, ugly bullbars etc, yuk. We do as may of the shows as we can, think we may be going to Jimmys farm for Alive and VDubbin on 6th June. She's been off the road for a couple of months as she needed a new clutch but that's done now, hubby is very handy with all the maintenance. We are heading to Melbourne, specifically Kilsyth to start with, eastern suburbs. We are going as soon as our house is sold, we had a second viewing last night so fingers crossed that will be soon. I was lucky enough to be born in NZ ( my parents emigrated in the 70's then came back when I was only 2), so I have citizenship and the passport, which I've been able to pass on to my children. Hubby's spousal visa cost a few hundred and was done in a matter of weeks so we've had a much easier ride than a lot of people, for which I am grateful and not gloating. All my family are over there and that's who we will stay with initially, we've done 6 weeks with them before so I'm sure we'll manage for a couple of months til we find our feet. I am very aware that we have an easy route Down Under, I've wanted to go for years and now the time seems right, our boys are very excited, they've heard us talk about it for so long! Where are you heading? I honestly cannot wait x

Ah thanks so much for the numbers, very useful. Completely understand, we took stripped back to a shell and bare metal, replaced so many panels, and lovingly put it all back together ourselves, she's our baby! Like you, we know every nut and bolt on this van, I don't fancy starting the whole resto project again, it took us 2 years to restore and we were working on it non stop. I think hubby is concerned that if it needs a deep/steam clean it will be damaged, but I don't think that will happen, like I said, it's been stripped back to bare metal so it's pretty clean anyway. I can't see him leaving it behind, he gets the polish cloth out every time we stop somewhere, so embarrassing in the petrol station lol. Do you know if you're allowed to fill the van with personal effects as well??

Hi Leajk, I am trying to convince my hubby that we need to take our vw camper but he's still undecided thinking it will cost too much and maybe be damaged. Are you wiling to share the quote you have for shipping the camper? We have a 1979 T2 which we fully, lovingly restored and I don't think we will be able to replace it for the amount we can sell it for, plus we know the van inside out. Like you say, it can be used for holidays etc!

Does anyone have experience of applying for this visa? I was born in NZ after my parents emigrated there in the 70's, we also spent some time in Oz. We all came back to the UK early 80's when I was just a toddler. My older brother grew up out there and emigrated back to Oz 18 years ago. We are planning to move to Oz by the end of the year. Having a NZ passport means it's relatively easy for me to go, and our children also have NZ citizenship by descent and passports. I have just lodged a visa application (subclass 461 - NZ citizen spouse visa) which is a temporary 5 year visa that allows him to live and work in Oz and can be renewed every 5 years. Was just wondering if anyone else had taken this route and what your experience was.

Yeah I did ask Iron Lady, pretty much just said if we love it then take it - still no idea of costs and implications though, would not want it steam cleaned, not sure the paint would survive. Does anyone know if I can put the van and household goods in the same container?

Ah, we have a 1979 VW Campervan, we restored it, no modifications as such. I'm really keen to take her but the husband thinks it's not worth it. If nothing else, it took 18 months to restore and has been on the road for just over a year so I think we should take her with us, not too bothered about the air con, might be when I'm there though! Bit scared about the whole import process to be honest.

Hi, Hope you can help me and my hubby decide!! We bought a wreck of a campervan and fully restored it with many many new parts, bare metal respray and fitted a full campervan interior. I think we should bring her but he thinks not...... I've provided as many details as I can. - year of manufacture - 1977 - make, model & variant - VW Campervan - body type (coupe, convertible, etc) - Full campervan fittings (Rock and Roll bed, storgae cupboards, leisure system, stereo system, lots of accessories - engine size & fuel type - 1600 petrol - transmission - Manual 4 speed - drive type (4WD, front wheel drive, etc) - Front Wheel Drive - mileage - questionable - probably 100k plus....chances are she's been round the clock at least once. - any special features, options or modification - Full campervan fittings - full bare metal restoration 2012 - does it have aircon - Absolutely not! - realistic current UK market value - GBP 10k upwards - Australian RedBook value (www.redbook.com.au - click through to the page with 'Private Price Guide', 'Trade In Price Guide' and 'Price When New' listed, then tell us the 'Private Price Guide' range) - Not found..... - Australian market value (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/search.aspx - search for the closest matching vehicle) - which Australian state/city - Seriously varies depending on condition, age, originality etc... Any ideas are gratefully received - thanks! Amy