Container Update...

Our ship has come in!

Lee has been tracking the progress of our vessel as it came back into GPS range in the waters around New Zealand and it was on schedule to arrive 16-Jan at around 8:30pm.  The excitement of actually getting our stuff is killing us!

itajai express at 4:00pm

I went today to take what we hope is the final paperwork to the NZ shipping company responsible for customs clearance and delivery to our new home.  Everything appears to be in order and we just have a few details to work out with the Jeep once it clears the MAF customs guys.  Our last steps... last 7-14 business days of glamping in Titirangi :)

We went downtown to watch our ship come in, have a little dinner, and celebrate the approaching end of our container's journey across the great Pacific.  The weather was gorgeous and we walked to the end of the Queen Pier to watch as the Itajai Express rounded the last corner by Devonport.  Hmmm... 8:30... where or where is our ship?  Oh well, time to catch a beer at Brew on Quay and refresh the GPS tracking on the iPhone every 60 seconds :)

walking down queen pier

the "cloud" event space on queen pier for rugby world cup 2011

itajai green indicator - slowly comin' in

9:30pm found us back at the end of the pier and... thar she blows!!  The Itajai is a HUGE ship and needs the help of several tug boats to maneuver into her slip at the port.  We watched until we couldn't keep warm anymore and headed home.  The ship is headed back out on Tuesday and our container (fingers crossed) has finally landed in Kiwiland!

itajai coming into port

tugboats changing ship's direction

HUGE ship - wonder which container is ours?

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Ok - this is a bit crazy now...  Apparently our moving company told us our container was on the wrong ship!!  We just received notice today that our container is not on the oft viewed and tracked Natalie Schulte, it is (according to the NZ shipping company) on the Liberian ship the Itajai Express.  Hmmm... was our container moved when the Natalie Schulte docked in Tauranga, NZ?  Was the container on the Itajai Express all along?  Is it perhaps still sitting on the dock in Los Angeles?  Where o' where in the world has our little container gone?

The Itajai Express, if this indeed our ship, is scheduled to arrive in Port of Auckland on 16-Jan.  Maybe we will be able to put this mystery to an end if the Auckland dock workers end their strikes :)

itajai express?

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Well, 06-January has come and gone.  No ship in port = no container = no comfy bed.  Latest update is arrival 18-January. Hopefully the Natalie Schulte has not gone astray in the great Pacific.

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Our ship has left port!  We have a tracking service for our container now and the Natalie Schulte left the Port of Los Angeles on 27-December.  Estimated arrival date in Port of Auckland is 06-January - MUCH earlier than expected!!!

Unfortunately, the container was subject to a customs inspection in Los Angeles prior to getting loaded on the ship.  We aren't sure why, but we know it cost $$$ for them to off load the jeep and do their inspection :(

We hope our container is one of the ones "inside" the stack just in case there are any issues with their path across the Pacific....

natalie schulte - kim & lee's container ship

tracking the natalie schulte

Now, we just have to clear the very rigid MAF (Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry) customs in Auckland and get the movers scheduled out to Titirangi.  It will be Christmas in January!

Dreams of a real bed.....