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Sentimental Items


Candshow

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Quick question with respect to taking sentimental stuff - we will sell most of our stuff before leaving but would like to take some thing which hold huge sentimental value. 

 

Example of some of the things are a wooden kist, bureau, clock etc....what restrictions are there?  I am more so worried about wooden products....they are all antiques.  Persian rugs?

 

I know with bikes etc they need to be fully disinfected before packing....

 

What about power tools? My husband has quite the collection.....

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Keep your tools, way too expensive to replace a big tool collection. We brought along hubbies entire collection.

And as for the bikes just give them a good wash and get the dirt off - no need to do more than that.

 

We took a huge wooden railway sleeper table and had no issue - we just specified it was an indoor dining table. For wooden things you just need to be concerned about items that may harbour wood borers.

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morning. wooden furniture especially oak and exotic woods cost an arm and a leg here....price in rands in SA will be priced in dollars for the same item, but it wont even be solid oak, it will be oak veneer

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you can bring pretty much anything that is manufactured by a company- we brought all our wooden furniture. Just make sure there is no sign of borer. Raw wood should be sealed but in saying that I brought my store bought reclaimed wood unit from Weylandts and had no problems.  I brought animal skins - (Nguni cow hides) store bought- with no issues- I did declare them .  I left behind my ostrich eggs and my african masks as they had a few bug holes in the back.

 

9 times out of 10 they are going to fumigate your container. Dont bring your Christmas tree if it has fir cones on it.  Furniture is expensive here so bring as much as you can.  No problem bring your Persian rugs.

 

 

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2 hours ago, SandraDee said:

9 times out of 10 they are going to fumigate your container

If they do happen to fumigate your container I am not sure whether you can keep mattresses that are inside. I was warned not to keep mine if my container happened to be fumigated - thankfully it was not. However my container came from Europe - perhaps they view it differently?

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They don't fumigate the whole container. They only fumigate relevant, individual items identified as needing it. We had to have an old wooden chest fumigated. It was the only item selected. We had our container delivered and then had to pick up the chest some time later after they had finished with it. There was a fee for the fumigation too. Can't remember how much.

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Thanks so much everyone for your feedback....how did your wooden furniture handle the trip across the seas?  

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  • 4 months later...

We brought over an antique rose table and had to have it either fumigated or destroyed.  The fumigation process back in the day (2004) was almost $300 - a lot of money if you came over with ZAR's in your pocket,  so we had it destroyed (free).  Make sure that whatever you bring over that could potentially be an issue,  you're willing to pay the price of fumigation otherwise you've wasted all the money getting it here.

 

Maybe someone who had to have something fumigated recently would be able to give you an up to date cost, but I suggest you find out and re-assess the sentiment vs the budget. Antiques especially as they're singled out for closer inspection. 

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Does anyone know if you fumigate in SA & have a certificate of fumigation that would be allowed?

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30 minutes ago, Candshow said:

Does anyone know if you fumigate in SA & have a certificate of fumigation that would be allowed?

 

No it won't be accepted. If it needs fumigation, then Oz quarantine will want to do it their way to their standards. 

Edited by RYLC
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41 minutes ago, Candshow said:

Does anyone know if you fumigate in SA & have a certificate of fumigation that would be allowed?

 

I believe there is a list of certified companies that may fumigate. I remember stumbling on such a list but I may stand corrected.

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Yes there is a list of companies but they are no longer acceptable to the deparment. Here is the list for South Africa  So it's pointless having it done in RSA

 

http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/aqis/importing/general/pre-border-schemes/afas/non-afas/offshore-treatment-providers-list-south-africa.pdf

 

Edited by RYLC
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4 minutes ago, RYLC said:

I thought that was for animal products such as hides (not fumigation though)

 

Could be. I just vaguely remembered some list. Can't really remember what exactly it was for 🤔

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A huge pity but we will need to look to saving up to get our antiques to Oz.....

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On 7/31/2019 at 11:47 PM, Candshow said:

A huge pity but we will need to look to saving up to get our antiques to Oz.....

 

I was the same - I had many sentimental antiques and stuff and thought I'd never be able to let it go but then once we lived in Australia for a while and it was all still piled up in the back of the garage, I realised that we've just dragged all of that over the water for weeks at great cost just to have it stored and will be dragging it along wherever we end up in Australia simply because it's sentimental... Then I sold it all.   

 

If you're simply holding on to it because of sentiment and you're not going to actually use it in your home, then save yourself the money and effort and leave it behind.  Maybe give it to someone in the family you know would treasure it so at least you know it is in the family and it is used and loved. Or give it to a friend who always admired it.  It would then still mean something instead of collecting dust in a dark corner never to be appreciated.  Just give it some thought. 

 

We all arrive in Australia with a lot of luggage and baggage and after a while, you don't need any of that anymore.  Australia changed me in so many ways I never imagined (and I'm sure many could agree).  Things that mattered don't matter anymore.  Things we held on to, has no meaning anymore.  Our ideas, opinions, priorities.... it all changed. It's almost like a liberation.    

 

I remember many years ago there was a guy  on the forum who did not want to emigrate because he would not be able to bring his bonsai collection.  Mind-blowing! 

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My wife and I always have a laugh when we see the "Ons is oppad" facebook posts, family posing with their absolute mountain of luggage.  It's funny because we all did it and probably regretted (we certainly did) having to lug all that :censored: around to catch connecting flights.

 

My son was 1 year old when we moved, so I had to handle all the luggage.  What a nightmare, but today we laugh about it.

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