When we last posted, there were still a number of items pending, not the least of which was finding a home for our beloved Tim Tam. The playdate and sleepovers happened, and Tim Tam and his new little stepbrother, Boris, got along famously! Our last day as a 'family' loomed and Sunday afternoon, 5th May, Tim Tam was dropped at his new home amidst floods of tears from Robin. His new 'Mum' had kindly organised for a bone for each dog, so Tim Tam was barely aware of our departure. We are happy that he is relaxed in his new home and look forward to a visit and a walk with him when we get back to Shoal Bay at Christmas. It still hurts like crazy to give up a pet who is more of a family member than your own flesh and blood sometimes!
As a result of getting our boat registered, we were able to obtain an MMSI registration (for the radio as well as the safety equipment such as the boat EPIRB, SART and personal EPIRBS). We also had the boat name designs finalised and sent to us for fixing on the boat in the next few days. Photos with "Bisou" officially emblazoned to follow soon.
One of our dilemmas was whether to air freight items to France or not - we had read forums where some Aussies had chosen to ship EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink, and others who chose to send nothing and had bought everything in France. Our dilemma was that, as Tad had already had several vessels prior to this one, and had equipment that was still in excellent condition, it seemed crazy to leave it behind and try to sell it (no market for second-hand boat equipment whatsoever) rather than take it with us. So we began to create piles of items that we would ship/airfreight if the price was right. In the end, after packing up 129kg of boxes which we had airfreighted to Nantes, the price per kilo ended up being just over $5 per kilo! Of course we still have customs duties to pay at the airport on collection but we do not anticipate these being excessive since the goods are all used and should not be subject to VAT. We'll see how we go with that one! As you know from previous posts, we also contributed rather well to the French economy by making considerable purchases here as well.
In preparation for the air freight exercise, we had to be rather organised and had all our bags packed in advance for the flight as well. Since we were flying to Paris with Singapore Airlines who are rather generous with their checked baggage allowance (30kg per person in Economy Class) and Tad had an additional 20kg due to his Gold Krisflyer status, we had a total allowance of 80kg. In the end, due to mysterious 'additions' to the already-packed luggage, we were 10kg overweight at the airport! We were informed at the check-in counter that we would have to pay AUD $79 per kilo if we didn't offload the 10kg somehow. Through various devious means (which we will not divulge in this public place) we managed to divide the 10kgs into two carry-on bags which made everything legal, if rather tedious as far as carrying was concerned.
The final week flew by as Tad and I cleaned, scrubbed and generally tidied the house and cars inside and out, and finalised bank accounts, credit cards, bill payments and everything else likely to be an issue over the next 7 months. Hopefully we didn't forget anything important!
We took the Port Stephens Coach service to Sydney (Tad had taken most of our bags to Sydney the week before when taking the boxes to the airfreight company, and left our suitcases at Jason's apartment), which was a convenient, comfortable and cost effective way for us to leave. We overnighted in Sydney at Jason's place in Beaconsfield and were escorted to the airport the next day by Tad's brother-in-law who kindly drove us in. It wasn't until we were sitting on the plane, ready to take off that we realised we were finally on our way!
As a result of getting our boat registered, we were able to obtain an MMSI registration (for the radio as well as the safety equipment such as the boat EPIRB, SART and personal EPIRBS). We also had the boat name designs finalised and sent to us for fixing on the boat in the next few days. Photos with "Bisou" officially emblazoned to follow soon.
One of our dilemmas was whether to air freight items to France or not - we had read forums where some Aussies had chosen to ship EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink, and others who chose to send nothing and had bought everything in France. Our dilemma was that, as Tad had already had several vessels prior to this one, and had equipment that was still in excellent condition, it seemed crazy to leave it behind and try to sell it (no market for second-hand boat equipment whatsoever) rather than take it with us. So we began to create piles of items that we would ship/airfreight if the price was right. In the end, after packing up 129kg of boxes which we had airfreighted to Nantes, the price per kilo ended up being just over $5 per kilo! Of course we still have customs duties to pay at the airport on collection but we do not anticipate these being excessive since the goods are all used and should not be subject to VAT. We'll see how we go with that one! As you know from previous posts, we also contributed rather well to the French economy by making considerable purchases here as well.
In preparation for the air freight exercise, we had to be rather organised and had all our bags packed in advance for the flight as well. Since we were flying to Paris with Singapore Airlines who are rather generous with their checked baggage allowance (30kg per person in Economy Class) and Tad had an additional 20kg due to his Gold Krisflyer status, we had a total allowance of 80kg. In the end, due to mysterious 'additions' to the already-packed luggage, we were 10kg overweight at the airport! We were informed at the check-in counter that we would have to pay AUD $79 per kilo if we didn't offload the 10kg somehow. Through various devious means (which we will not divulge in this public place) we managed to divide the 10kgs into two carry-on bags which made everything legal, if rather tedious as far as carrying was concerned.
The final week flew by as Tad and I cleaned, scrubbed and generally tidied the house and cars inside and out, and finalised bank accounts, credit cards, bill payments and everything else likely to be an issue over the next 7 months. Hopefully we didn't forget anything important!
We took the Port Stephens Coach service to Sydney (Tad had taken most of our bags to Sydney the week before when taking the boxes to the airfreight company, and left our suitcases at Jason's apartment), which was a convenient, comfortable and cost effective way for us to leave. We overnighted in Sydney at Jason's place in Beaconsfield and were escorted to the airport the next day by Tad's brother-in-law who kindly drove us in. It wasn't until we were sitting on the plane, ready to take off that we realised we were finally on our way!
No comments:
Post a Comment