Fractal Blog

Our sea freight arrived at Botany Bay last Tuesday (5th March). Somehow it took six days, until Monday 17th, to arrive from there at the removal company's depot. It then took all Tuesday 18th to clear customs. Yesterday, on Wednesday, they did 'quarantine' on it. All day. This morning when we called (we have to call them several times a day since they never return calls, ever) they told us the bicycles and one pair of shoes had failed quarantine.

Now let's look at this rationally. Quarantine is there to make sure nothing harmful (or illegal) enters Australia. Fair enough. In this country, anything 'living' from outside the country is considered harmful. This includes things like dirt on bicycle wheels and shoes. However, the two bikes (and, for that matter, the pair of shoes) are Australian origin, and were never out of the packaging since we left Melbourne seven months ago. They were never properly imported into the UK (we think -- no telling what the removal company did at the UK end but we told them to turn around the shipment as-is). This being the case, where on earth did they think the bicycles could have aquired non-Australian soil?

However, common sense is in very short supply at this removal company. So the bicycles will need to be steam cleaned, which may well damage them. They are easily the most expensive item in our sea freight. Unhappy doesn't even begin to describe it.

Current estimate is we might have our sea freight on Wednesday. We'll believe that when we see it.

Should you be looking for a removal company in Australia I'd suggest you steer clear of Boltt International.