Dirt

[BillyJo]

A question on DIRT.

 

Having had Pickfords round at my house recently....the rep mentioned that some of our "wicker" style baskets could not be taken as theses were "dirt magnets" and that the "Australian authorities had a problem with materials like this". The problem worsened when I showed him my mountain bike that i want to take with me....he said " now this will have to be immaculately cleaned"....I then started to recall TV shows that I had seen regarding the Australian authorities at airports where they made folk destroy their shoes if there was a wee bit of dirt on the sole.

The rep then went on to say that if we had...for example....a box with a dirty shoe in it....the authorities would need to fumigate the entire 20ft container and charge us for the fumigation.

 

Are the rules on DIRT as tight as the rep describes??? Has anyone encountered the DIRT issue????

 

I'm not a dirty person ......but is something worth bearing in mind when packing stuff up??

[Guest John Alderson]

Hi. Just ensure that no dirt / mud are on outside items. AQIS pay special attention to shoes, bikes, golf equipment, camping stuff etc.

 

Other items that are wooden May be in issue, and candles too.

 

check the AQIS website for details.

 

On arrival a lot of "personal effect" cargos are inspected prior to release. They don't inspect with microscopes but will look for mud and dirt, so make sure things are cleaned / wiped down as packed.

[Rammygirl]

Yes you do need to clean off any dirt or organic matter. Your mountain bike will be of interest to them so get out the muk off and clean it to an inch of its life then re- lubricate. It helps them to pack it if you take off the pedals too. We sent three roadies and even brought one on the plane with us. The guy at the airport wanted a peak to be sure it was clean!

 

dont need to use jayes, it stinks forever! Basic detergent will do for shoes, outdoor things, sports equipment etc.

 

fumigation of a container isn't a fortune they just set a smoke bomb off in it but it will delay your stuff and can lead to extra storage charges at the dock.

[BillyJo]

Hi John

 

cheers for the info on AQIS website

 

So I take it that as long as you clean stuff and don't have obvious dirt clagged-up all over the place I should be fine?

[snifter]

You can't ship wicker so I'd just ditch anything made of it. And any Christmas decorations made from real cones, berries etc are a no go. If you do you will be charged to fumigate it and it isn't cheap.

 

You really do need to clean bikes, outdoors equipment, shoes and boots. Don't scrimp on it.

 

You can and will be charged for fumigation or treatment costs. Or if you don't want to pay that you will be charged the disposal costs.

 

Get some Zoflora and a few good cloths and brushes and get cleaning

 

Fwiw we ditched all wicker and those sorts of things for ease of shipping. Plus it would cost far more to fumigate than buy new the other end.

[BillyJo]

Nice one Rammy and Snifter.

 

Will ditch the wicker and get my rubber gloves on then !

[Guest Guest12727]

Hi BillyJo,

We brought our outdoor wooden furniture and a wooden potting bench, just gave them a scrub with a wire brush and had the lawnmower professionally cleaned to remove any traces of grass. (In hindsight that was probably a waste of money - could have sold it and bought a new one here for same cost)

We gave away most of our gardening tools as it was just too hard to remove all the rust etc. Only kept the relatively new ones that could clean up well.

Obviously you want to clean your boots etc - to be honest, I wouldn't want the dirt packed in with all my belongings for several months anyway!

We were OK bringing some cane seated stools as the cane was treated.

[Guest John Alderson]

I work in an import transport company, and we have AQIS on site all the time.

fumigation isn't to expensive, they use a chemical called methyl bromide to kill any creepy crawling things.

 

wood can be heat treated if it's something of sentimental nature, but agree ditch what you can. It saves on packing / transit costs.

[Diane]

Spray everything with a liberal dose of Jeyes fluid! OH even washed our lawnmower (in the bath)..but he brought mountain bikes over no problem - get them as clean as you can then Jeyes all over!