Family of Six - What essentials to pack while we wait for container

[bigdaddy]

We will shortly be emigrating to NZ with our four young children (5, 3, 2 x 1yrs). We are shipping the contents of our home and car by sea. We intend to rent initially. Can people please advise what they recommend we need while we wait for the container and should consider bringing in our suitcases/shipping by air (bed sheets, high chairs, car seats etc. ?)

[JandM]

I'm sure recent arrivals will have some suggestions, but there's a very individual element to this, too. Think through your own and your children's routine(s) - what are the little ones going to be expecting to have at key times, and what will make life easier for you?

One thing - bed sizes in NZ aren't on the same standard as in the UK. There is a certain amount of matching, but not all UK standard bed linen will fit NZ beds. Here's an old post with the measurements. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....934#post283934

About your child safety seats - make sure they've got the right kind of European standard mark on them. See the Factsheet you can click through to here http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/fa...estraints.html for the details. Without that, they're not legal in NZ. If your seats aren't okay, there is a terrific system of hiring appropriate seats, belts, boosters, etc. for small children from Plunket throughout NZ. http://www.plunket.org.nz/what-we-do...FRQatAodrgkAWg (Plunket is the organization that operates a service for the health of families with young children.)

[girlwithanewf]

I think there is an old thread about that.
Anything you need can be easily replaced but you want to avoid that as much as possible.
I would suggest taking as few clothes as you can get away with and filling your suitcases with household essentials.
And don't get carried away - you have somehow to get to and from the airport and you have to carry all that stuff. Particularly with 4 young children.
I suggest: duvets - you can squash them down in vacuum pack bags, sheets, a towel each, cutlery, lightweight pans etc.
Get stuff from charity shops when you get to NZ (called op shops in NZ).
And obviously child related stuff, I don't know about the price of sending by air. Suspect it might be cheaper to sell your stuff in the UK and replace in NZ than send by air.

[Mamee & Co]

Often the rentals are unfurnished...so we camped! We brought sheets and sleeping bags to use as duvets and our camping plates, knives and forks. We agreed to buy towels when we got here. We were able to rent a washing machine for about $10 per week, and were loaned a bed and a chair. We bought a second hand recliner , small bar fridge, a wee freezer and a small TV - all things we could use when the container arrived. Look for second hand shops and specials - sale items.

It is possible to stay in furnished accomodation until your things arrive, but we wanted to settle the boys so after a month and deciding where we wanted to live we moved into an unfurnished house

[bigdaddy]

Many thanks for your advice. We are flying Singapore airlines which gives four of us 30kg baggage allowance and the twins 10kg each. In addition we can bring the pram and car seats for babies as well as cotbed. The travel cot can also act as playpen. We are going to bring duvets and bedding, probably vacuum packed, and towels. We have booked two skycouches on the route from Singapore to Auckland. Feeling very excited and completely terrified!

[girlwithanewf]

Make sure you have a clear plan as to how you are going to carry and transport 140kg of luggage, a pram, cot bed, car seats and 4 small children to and from the airport! Especially when you get to NZ after a very long flight... Just checking all that in and picking up from baggage collection will be a nightmare.

[catt]

Don't forget to keep everything separate when the shippers turn up to pack up your house. Everything you will be carrying needs to be locked away somewhere with big signs on it saying do not touch as the shippers just wiz through your house and pack anything that isnt nailed down. All paperwork needs to come with you along with tickets and passports, and you may laugh but others have had that kind of thing packed by the shippers and have had to rummage in boxes before now. Once it starts it really happens quickly.....good luck and enjoy the ride.

[girlwithanewf]

Don't forget to keep everything separate when the shippers turn up to pack up your house. Everything you will be carrying needs to be locked away somewhere with big signs on it saying do not touch as the shippers just wiz through your house and pack anything that isnt nailed down. All paperwork needs to come with you along with tickets and passports, and you may laugh but others have had that kind of thing packed by the shippers and have had to rummage in boxes before now. Once it starts it really happens quickly.....good luck and enjoy the ride.

I've always put everything which wasn't being packed up in the bathroom.

[newarrival]

Make sure you have a clear plan as to how you are going to carry and transport 140kg of luggage, a pram, cot bed, car seats and 4 small children to and from the airport! Especially when you get to NZ after a very long flight... Just checking all that in and picking up from baggage collection will be a nightmare.

Agreed!

[kiwieagle]

Make sure you have a clear plan as to how you are going to carry and transport 140kg of luggage, a pram, cot bed, car seats and 4 small children to and from the airport! Especially when you get to NZ after a very long flight... Just checking all that in and picking up from baggage collection will be a nightmare.

Absolutely. It is very difficult to manage the customs queue with so much stuff and little children. I did this myself and only two small children and it was a nightmare. It was nearly impossible to get to the domestic terminal until some random stranger took pity on me and helped me push one of my two luggage trolleys over. I had to push it over because it took me too long to get through customs and I missed the cut off time to check it back in at int'l for them to transfer it over. Make sure you leave yourself a lot of time!