Planning Our Move To New Zealand - Us And the Dog

For the past month we have been making some big decisions about our move to NZ.  While January seems a long way away it really isn't especially with a baby on the way as well.

One of the biggest things we have had to sort out is the actual moving of us, our belongings, car and dog.
We knew it would not be cheap to move so we have been careful to downsize over the past 12 months and to do our research with different moving companies.

Today's post is all about moving us, Peanut (our yet to be born baby) and Jessie aka Number One Helper.

Moving us is the simplest part.  We booked our tickets when they were on special and when peanut is born we call and add him to the ticket as no seat is required.  We have also booked and paid for 2 additional bags as we will be living out of suitcases for 3 months before we move (more about that in another post) and for a month after we arrive so we need a few more bits and pieces and one of the extra bags will have all out baby things and cloth nappies.  The nappy bag and stroller are free and it is cheaper to buy additional bags before you leave than pay for excess baggage because you have gone over your allowance.  

Moving Jessie is not cheap and after 4 quotes prices ranged from $2000 - $5000 plus vet fees and pest treatments (which we normally do at that time of the year anyway).  This is a lot of money for a pet but she is part of the family and at 6 years old has plenty of years left we hope, so we are prepared to spend the money.  

We are flying from Brisbane to Wellington but for Jessie some of the options included her flying from Brisbane to Sydney to Auckland to Wellington, and one of the options even had her doing a stop over in Sydney.  Then there was an option where we had to pay an agent to handle her in Auckland (at a cost).  We wanted her to have a little stress as possible which meant not transferring to many times and spending as little time in a travel crate as possible.

In the end we have gone with the option that has us dropping her off the day before at the the pet transport companies preferred vet in Brisbane for her final inspection, the pet company pick her up there in the afternoon and she spends the night with them before they take her to the airport in the morning in her travel crate.  Although we are flying out the same day we are not on the same flight. We fly direct to Wellington while she goes via Auckland where she clears NZ quarantine then she transits to Wellington where we will collect her.  It ended up being one of the cheapest prices and the service so far has been brilliant.  It is quite early to be booking Jessie in and the airline will not confirm it all until about a month before we fly.  But all pets go on a waiting list and only a couple of pets can go on each flight so we have been told that by booking this early we can almost guarantee getting the date we want.

We arrive at 3.30 pm (without delays) and by the time we clear customs and collect our luggage it will be at least 4.15 pm.  Jessie is due to arrive at 6.00 pm so we will have a few hours to kill but this will give us time to attend to Peanut (Baby) duty and have something to eat.  My dad is picking us up as he has a twin cab ute with a canopy and this will allow us to get 2 adults (plus Dad) a baby in a baby seat, a dog in a dog crate, a pram, 4 suitcases, 2 hand luggage bags, a laptop and a nappy bag all to mum and dads 3 hours north of Wellington in one go.

It will be a long day starting at 5.00am AUS time and finishing at 6.30 pm AUS time but the flight is one we have done a lot so we know where we are going, the layout of the airports and the flight is not that long at only 3 hours.  We are also not having to do the driving on arrival so hopefully between the flight and the drive I will find some time to have a sleep as well.

Overall that is the grand plan for that day and we are hoping all goes to plan.  

Do you have any tips for moving with pets?