Ok, to start with we are in Christchurch and are sick of the earthquakes and the schools are not up to looking after my 15 year old in her year 11 because of all the moving around etc they will have to do, and my youngest daughters don't feel safe anymore etc etc etc so we are moving back home to Oz.
I have had a couple of removalist firms in to quote on taking our worldly possessions over the ditch for us and the quotes are not small.
My boss said to me "why don't you do it yourself?". I work for a company that has a global logistics wing, although I have never had anything to do with it.
He tells me that they can organise for a container to be put at my property, I load it up with all my stuff and they send it to where I am going.
he says it would save me a lot of money doing it this way, IF, i wanted to pack up my whole house, deal with the paperwork when it gets to Australia (apparently they are lets say, difficult to deal with), and unpack it at the other end.
The removalists tell me it will take around 5 or 6 weeks to get the container there. My boss tells me it will take about 10 days max.
I have never even attempted to do this sort of thing before so I have a few questions and I hope someone out there can help.
1. Is it possible for me to do this as I am not MAF qualified (whatever that is).
2. Is there any specific regulations I would need to adhere to in the method used to pack the goods in the container?
3. I figure I can use an agent or something in Australia to do the paperwork for me. I know they will charge me. would it be worth it?
4. Is there somewhere affordable I can buy all the packing boxes, tape, bubble wrap and paper etc I will need to wrap everything I own?
5. Are there people I can hire to do the wrapping/packing for me (not the removalists!)
I see there may possibly be huge savings doing it this way and possible time benefits as well, but is it really worth the stress?
has anyone actually done this and have any pointers?