UKC

I'm hoping the world of ukc might be able to help on this one!

I'm emigrating to new Zealand in the new year and I am hoping to take my climbing stuff with me. Considering new Zealand's rules regarding biosecurity, has any one got any advice/had any issues with regards to importing their ropes and the like that have been used outdoors?

Thanks!

In reply to lordlamberino:

Na, just give everything a clean and it'll be alright. They just gave our stuff a cursory glance.

In reply to lordlamberino: Bring your climbing gear with you, because buying in NZ is more expensive than the UK for a variety of reasons (NZ's isolation, costs of transport, smaller markets for kit, etc). There are options for purchasing from the US, but the NZ postal service and customs are increasingly looking to levy GST on more expensive purchases.

Make sure it's clean. The shipping manifest will identify the contents of each of your packing cartons, so that customs can identify which cartons to check. Tents, boots and sporting equipment are of interest to customs for obvious reasons.

I didn't have any problems with any of my stuff (ropes, climbing hardwear, and mountain bikes). Remember that your shipping will pass through the tropics and you might wish to think about whether you use plastic bags to pack clothes and kit inside the cartons (there are considerations about condensation).

You'll need shipping insurance (shop around) and funds to release your shipping from customs in NZ (possibly storage too, depends on whether you have an address sorted for delivery).

Final thoughts:
There isn't/wasn't a customs levy on importing personal possessions for the first time shipment that a migrant imports into NZ, although I'm not sure if that applies for subsequent occasions. I know friends who have thought afterwards that they should have brought more of their outdoor stuff from the UK when they first arrived, as they had a shock at the prices when they began purchasing in NZ. 'Trade Me' is a NZ way of life to pick up outdoor stuff more cheaply (but be surprised for the costs of some pre-loved stuff).

Shipping back to the UK is far more expensive than shipping to NZ, as many returnees to the UK will admit. Not a pleasant thing to consider, but if it doesn't work out for you, will there be items that you can't face being separated from?

Good luck and enjoy your new life in NZ!

In reply to lordlamberino:
Wow - soooo envious! Spent 5 weeks touring NZ in a camper August 2007 - most wonderful thing I've done. Immigration was VERY THOROUGH with our walking gear. I'd read about bio-immigration controls and scrubbed our walking boots with a toothbrush and disinfectant. Immigration found a minute piece of grass I'd missed so took both pairs off to their own controls to be dunked in whatever they dunk them in.
NZ is a small country and passionate about its native wildlife. Have a fantastic time. Can't see why you'd come back here....(unless you lived in Cornwall!!))

In reply to lordlamberino:

Just make sure you clean everything well. Be honest on your Quarantine form, and try not to visit any crags near farms for a few weeks before you emigrate.

When I arrived at Auckland, I was processed very quickly. He took my word for it about what I had, and that I'd cleaned it properly.

In reply to Richard Alderton:
I travel in and out regularly. have you been on a farm in last Month. They sometimes check Boot tread for dirt and Shake out tent incase insects caught up. Have never worried about the rope.
Pack a few things like that accesible at the top and if they're clean they'll move you through quickly.

In reply to lordlamberino: All good advice. Wire brush to the soles of the boots usually helps. Tent groundsheets will be inspected (I declared that I had washed mine with disinfectant on the manifest and all went well). My ropes were all fairly clean and they weren't interested in them at all.

Bring absolutely all your climbing gear and buy anything you will need to replace in the next few years before you arrive if you have the funds - as mentioned above you can flog the old stuff on trademe.co.nz which in some cases covers the cost of a new one from overseas. Old rucksacks etc still worth bringing.

Have a look at http://www.bivouac.co.nz/ to get an idea of prices.

The only things I couldn't get clean enough were my fell shoes but as fell running doesn't exist in NZ it wasn't an issue. They are very nervous about garden furniture and gardening gear - we didn't have much and left that behind. Otherwise it's things like wicker furniture (magazine racks, draws from under a table etc) that make them twitchy. Probably not worth the hassle.

In hindsight if we had some spare cash (improbable when emigrating but you never know) it would have been worth getting more furniture e.g. from ikea in the shipping container - the nearest one is now Sydney - but that's less fun than setting up a new home here.

Where are you headed for? Plenty of ukc folk here in NZ....

Hope all goes smoothly. Fly via LA and you get 2x32kg luggage and experience the innner circle of hell (Homeland Security in LA) at no extra cost

b

In reply to ben b: Not sure that you still get that extra baggage allowance. Air NZ changed their policy a few months back to one bag but I don't know about other airlines. You can, however, pay for an extra checked bag (about £80) which is well worth it is stuffed full of climbing gear. They have also improved the LA transit experience now. That long stand in the corridor where new friends were met and lost, families were raised and civilisations came and went is no more.

In reply to AdrianC: Ah yes, the Corridor of Genial but Bemused Hipsanics. Fortunately if we have the kids we tend to get whisked to the front ("which was nice", as they say on the Fast Show).

Last trip was via SFO and was much more dignified (and involved a quick trip to REI!).

So now the inner circle of the Inferno is solely occupied by Heathrow Terminal 4's tax-refund-office-cum-public-convenience, and the coterie of absolute, hand picked, grade 1 bankers behind the desk. Who most recently refused me a refund on the basis that I didn't have a utilities bill from NZ to prove I lived there....

b

In reply to lordlamberino:

Brilliant, thanks for all the advice! Looks like I've got seem cleaning to do over the winter and some shopping!

I've got two months in Brazil before I end up in NZ so I thankfully have the luxury of time to ship stuff out there.

Ben b - not a clue yet, I've got family in Auckland but aside from that I'll be going where the jobs are! Definitely do a bit of exploring of the south island, as I've only ever been in the north. It's a chore, but someone's gotta do it