Shipments done by Travellers

I dropped my road weary VFR complete with panniers off at the Robbies LA agents, about a $25 taxi ride from LAX. My uncrated bike arrived in NZ without a scratch 23 days later. Robbie took care of the paperwork with customs in Dunedin, I paid Robbie shipping and GST which he passed on to customs so they would release the bike. I was a bit worried about paying it all upfront without seeing the bike first in case it was damaged but it all worked out great. A trustworthy guy, cheapest LA-NZ shipping around and recommended.

Graham was very knowledgeable and effcient.

I flew on the same plane as my bike - NZ171 so collecting it was a breeze and i rode away four hours after landing.

The rate was high because there is only one carrier to Cairns. The quoted rate to Brisbane was $1.50

** jetwash your bike throughouly before you leave - no mud on bike , wheel arches,
** clean boots, tent pegs, tent no grasses etc inside or on your tent, etc.

Cairns is a small airport so i could walk every where.

1 walked to customs building (100 metres oppostite international terminal) and got my carnet stamped and the entry cleared
2 went downstairs to AQIS quarantine for inspection
- aus 130 for processing
3 walked to qanta freight for inspection with AQIS girl.
4 she inspected my bke with a torch and was happy but took my boots away to clean them - no charge.
she signed release for Qantas who charged me $80 for storing it for 2 hours.
5 got on bike and rode off.

(Their website ain't much use for English speakers, but hopefully this is most of what you need)

The ferry leaves Shanghai (31*15.1790N 121*30.4840E) every Saturday at 1pm and takes just under 48 hours to Osaka (Kobe every alternate week, but they're pretty close together).

I paid at the office (31*15.1690N 121*30.0150E) only the day before, and the boat was not full, so I don't think this would usually be a problem. You can only buy the passenger ticket beforehand. The bike gets paid for after going through customs when you hand it over for them to winch up the side.

Although they have a pricing structure for bikes, even my 250cc was in the large(st?) category, hence 1000 yuan. Smaller is cheaper of course, but it seemed pretty unheard of that they actually ship bikes.

They said they had heard Japanese customs was picky, but I had no issues - they knew I needed my carnet, but weren't exactly sure what their book was telling them. In the end I didn't even need to go down to JAF to buy insurance! No other charges on the Japanese side, either. Except you need 200 yen right away if you want to go through a tunnel to the useful part of town (where you can get on the expressway, if you're over 125cc - apparently the rule banning 2-up on the expressways has gone - get a local to confirm before you rely on this). I had no money, and the lovely customs dude gave me 200 yen out of his pocket.

To get money in Japan, try the ATM's at the post office if you have a VISA - pretty much everywhere else that says they accept VISA only accept "Japanese VISA" whatever that is. Haven't seen any "Plus" support either.

The ferry company seemed reasonably professional and did what they promised. The only real (huge) problems were with their Japanese office not responding to my _repeated_ emails over the course of months. So I've not bothered including that email address, and unfortunately I don't have a China one.

I was allowed to see my bike, all nicely tied up, before sailing, and once we were out to sea I was allowed to visit it to get things I'd need on the voyage. So nicely accomodating, really.

Only other small thing is they bent my luggage rack a bit when they were winching my bike. But not through a lack of professionalism on their part - I was watching the offloading and it seemed quite sensibly done at the time. My rack just wasn't quite strong enough.

Any more queries, please contact me: antonp at gmaildotcom.

Just to let u folks know the latest dramatic price increase of Air freight:
From Panama City, Panama
To Quito, Ecuador
Traveller Martin and Katja Wickert
Date Mai 2005
Cost (US $) 675 US Dollar for 1 bike
Shipped by Air
Shipper Company name: Girag Air
Shipper Web Page: www.giragcargo.com
Shipper Contact person name: Carmenza Clavijo Galvis
Shipper Contact person email : carm...@giragcargo.com
Shipper Girag Cargo
Shipment Web Page
Recommended Yes
Rating 3 (Average)
Details

Girag Air had the same price as Panavia. The prices increased dramatically and all airlines seem to have the same price. Girag seemed more reliable, we just felt better with them, but later we heard that Panavia has an office in Quito and GIrag just a partner office. I do not know if that matters, Ricardo Rocco prevers Panavia though.

Flight came thru Bogota. Unf. the flight was delayed due to problems on a plane but securely stored in Bogota. The only prep we had to do was roll the bikes into the warehouse. They asked how much gas we had in the tank and we said about a gallon and they said no problem. They asked that we just leave them on the floor and they would take care of the crating but we wanted to strap them down ourselves. In the end that didnt work out and they did it. No damage found to the bike after we received them.

On arrival in Quito they were no longer on the pallet. No damage no scratches. Getting them out of Customs in Quito would have been a major hassle without the broker so we used the agent lady recommended by Ricardo Rocco. She charges 50 Dollar per Bike and it takes her 2 hours instaed of the 2 days you need to do it yourself.

Additional costs in Quito: 28 Dollars for the paperwork of the aircompany (they charge fopr handing u the papers back) and about 25 Dollars depending on the weight of your bike (we had 300 kg) for bringing the bike from the airfield to the Aduana.

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Contact: Panavia Cargo. Tel. 238-4326, cell from Carmenza: 612-5832 They are at the cargo terminal which is from the passenger terminal following the fence around the airport. Easy to find.

Cost: 2 times $675 for 2 fully loaded Africa Twins (boxes and all luggage was still on the bike. $28 in Quito for Paperwork, $50 each for the broker and $28 for handling at Customs.

But: It was all relaxed and very easy. It is for the lazy and rich folks...;-)

Martin and Katja

First of all I want to say this: If you go for a visa they