Shipments done by Travellers

this service can be summarised as "wishy-washy".

whilst the bikes got to their destination the process was left wanting.

whilst we consider the cost high it was for 5 M cubed ( 2 uncrated rolling bikes & 1 M cubed box)and all charges to the wharehouse in auckland. arthur quoted us at Au$ 150 M cubed.

again we were happy to leave the bikes uncrated as they are not pretty and it saved us hassles associated with crating if you are under time pressure.

the mistake we made was to ship the 1 M cubed box. we forgot we

I paid Dave in _cash_ with a "no receipt needed" for a one way trip from Melbourne to Christchurch. It included the NZ temporary registration, Warrant of Fitness (WOF), and a refundable AU$250 since it was cheaper than getting a carnet.

My bike is a 1965 Ducati 250cc, so it's light and small. Round trip for a normal sized bike is AU$1,350. So my one-way, minus the carnet fee, was AU$1,080 instead of the quoted AU$960. I should've done this myself and learned about bike shipping in 2 countries that both speak English and also saved some cash.

As he says on his site, "These prices include container lease, loading and unloading, sea freight both ways, transport from ship to storage area at each end, transport from storage area to ship at each end, the use of bike specific cradles and tiedowns, Customs and Quarantine clearance at both ends, secure storage of all bikes prior to your arrival, (it is simply not possible to have the container arrive the same day you arrive in New Zealand), agency fees, storage handling fees and wharf handling fees. Also included is your bikes NZ Temporary (Tourist) Registration and Warrant of Fitness".

The WOF shop was ran by a jerk who rode bikes even though he didn't have to. He just wanted to ride bikes he can't afford. I was there with several new(er) Ducatis. He almost dropped a Ducati ST2 and stalled it twice -- just in the parking lot. He quit riding the new bikes after that, but insisted on riding my bike. He couldn't start it, kept stalling it (I'd have to restart it for him), and couldn't change gears. I don't mind people riding my bike, but there's no way I would've willingly let this guy do it. Dave Milligan said it was the first and last time he'd use this WOF shop.

I'd say Get Routed would be a good way of shipping your bike if you're a part of the winery touring crowd which the other bikes shipped over were. Spending money isn't so bad on a regular vacation but when you're on a tiny budget it hurts -- especially when Dave tells you he's shipping race bikes to Isle of Man for free.

He let me bring in my bike on the last day since there were problems keeping it running which was nice.

I shipped with Hermes from Melbourne to Auckland. They charged us A$315 based on 2 cubic metres. I obtained a steel framed crate from a local bike shop for $50 then removed the front wheel and topbox and crated the bike at Hermes depot in north Fitzroy, Melbourne.
There is a weekly sailing every Friday and the ship takes 4 days to make the crossing.
Their charges did not include the fees in NZ.In Auckland we had to pay:
NZD$ 130.00 Port Service Charge
NZD$ 7.00 Forestry
NZD$ 45.00 Delivery Order
NZD$ 5.00 Bacc Application Fee
NZD$ 5.00 Admin Fee
+ GST (12.5%)
We also had to pay NZ$65 for the MAF (quarantine) inspection. Bike must have all road dirt, etc removed and MAF check under mudguards, etc. I spent an hour at a Melbourne car wash using their jet wash for the princely sum of $10.

We organised our crates from Procycles, the Hornsby (Sydney) BMW dealer. We both have BMWs, R 1100 GS and F 650. The front tyres had to be removed to lower the bikes. The crates are 2.25 x 1.10 x 1 m = 2.50 cbm. We transported the collapsed crates to Towers one day in advance. The container is loaded usually 3 days advanced to loading the vessel. Call Tony to confirm the next container shipment. The container is usually loaded on Friday.
In Auckland we contacted Phil Gibbs. The vessel was afew days late. Make sure you get an MAF appointment asap. The guys are very busy. We had to wait 5 extra days incl. a weekend. The bikes need to be very clean, same for camping gear and boots, no spices, no food. We chose Jas Jenner because they allowed us to store the crate for further transportation.
1. Export from Australia
1.1 Seafreight 2 x 2.5 cbm x 85 A$/cbm = 425 A$
1.2 Documentation Fee 65 A$
1.3 Customs Inspection for Carnets 50 A$
1.4 Total in Sydney 540 A$
1.4 Total 313 Euro 408 US$

2.Import New Zealand (Jas Jenners Worldwide, Phil Gibbs, p...@jasjeners.co.nz, +61-9-275-1103, close to the airport)
2.1 PSC Australia 38 N$
2.2 Forestry Fee 10 N$
2.3 Delivery Order 40 N$
2.4 MAF Permit (Ministry of Forestry) 15 N$
2.5 MAF Inspection 110 N$
2.6 GST 27 N$
2.7 Total 240 N$
2.7 Total 127 Euro 165 US$

First of all: thanks to Lyn,she was extremely well organised and helpfull(even knew where was the cheapest place to stay in town).

Jas costed us the following:

Freight Rate by Ocean freight: AUD 150.00 per CBM or a minimum of AUD 100.00

Jas Documentation fee: AUD 100.00 (Have to pay cash beforehand).

We organised our own crate, JAS didn't do it.

We went to the Harley Davidson outlet in town (Harley info: call Rob at 9381 9744). We've heard from friends that they used to give their old second hand crates away for free. This has changed however,they now charge AUD 80.00 for a sheet metal bottom,(very easy to use,strap bike on and no need to use mainstand,an fit in a box and driving gear,plus reuse the crate later).

We got a friend to deliver it for us right at the warehouse at the wharf,after Lyn gave us the papers to do so. We stored it there and took our time crating it the next day ourselves. No transportation costs.

Jas ship every Wednesday and it takes about a week.

Tip - do the waiting for the bike bit in Melbourne. It's a cheaper city to stay in, great victoria food market and small enough to walk everywhere. Auckland is expensive to find a bed,camping in the city cost $30.00 a night! Need to cruise around in buses).

In NZ we had to wait 4 days before we could get the bike out of customs.

First with a trip to customs(in an extension of Customs Street in the center of city) and MAF (Quarantine)in the same office.

Have your carnet ready.

Then call a MAF guy and make an appointment to get your bike checked at the warehouse. They were pretty easy on the bike and we didn't need to get it fumigated.Took 5 minutes to check. However the warehouse chief in charge,a cocky bossy guy named Martin Freer wasn't much of a help.

We were not allowed to drive the bike off the crate and out into the city. We wanted to keep the crate and had a friend with his van ready and waiting outside. Mr Freer insisted that we should go rent a trailer somewhere and only then would he deliver the bike, crate and all with the forklift onto the trailer and are we free to do with it what we want. A bit silly and
expensive.

While he is a very rude and very busy man, unfriendly and unbelievably unhelpful, two of his mates was standing just behind him frying barbeque patties on the grill while others was playing pool in the coffee room.

Other overlanders reports that they didn't have this "find yourself a trailer"-trouble like what we had, so I suppose it would pay to ask before hand.

On delivery we had to pay NZ$64.31 to MAF and another NZ$96.75 to JasNZ.

All in all it was cheap and easy to organise.

Super to have a bike here and Nieu Zealand is tremendous country!