Darwin – Shipping to Timor Leste

Darwin…  Geez, what a cluster that all turned out to be.

To explain, I hope briefly…  I needed to ship my truck from Darwin to Dili in Timor Leste.  No one freights a vehicle from Darwin to anywhere – or if they have, everyone has forgotten what happened last time.  How to actually do it – what’s required.  Shipping companies cannot absorb a ‘retail’ customer like me – it’s all big company to big company stuff.  It’s a very old-world environment.  I did find an ok shipping agent, but he was not good at calling back, well, ever really. 

So, I had no idea of how to do this, when it would happen – or if it would happen.  I’d paid $7,000 to this bloke a few months back – it was a leap pf faith but I am an optimist.  My faith, however, was sorely, sorely tested.

I was in Broome – my shipping agent called be back (miracle).  He had a place on a ship leaving in 10 days.  Am I in Darwin?!  No.  Well, best you get here – now.

So, thus the long drives to Kununurra and then to Darwin.  The hardest of the trip.  I was in pretty bad shape (well, absolutely buggered) when I arrived.  It was a Saturday.  Sunday I did nothing – recovered.  Monday, I had lots to do.

• Fixed a broken windscreen.
• Get a full service on the vehicle.
• Get a new awning, and have this fitted.
• Register the vehicle.
• Get a passport for the vehicle, and get that in my hands.
  • A thing call a Carnet de Passage en Douane, which basically allows me to keep my NSW, Aust rego and take the vehicle temporarily into other countries.
• Hunt down my shipping agent and get what I needed to do
  • He went missing again for two days.
• Contact the Australian Border Force to understand my obligations around exporting a vehicle
  • Not insignificant as it turned out.
• Another service I needed done by a 4WD specialist called ARB.

To cut to the chase, I was able to get most the work done on the vehicle.  But the shipping agent?  Monday, no response.  Tuesday, nothing.  Then, Wednesday morning, everything came together.  The ABF told me all of the forms that had to be done, and all the inspections that were needed – a months work.  The agent called, the vehicle needed to be delivered to a container place at 10am Thursday…  The Carnet was delayed in Canberra – I couldn’t do anything without it.  The ARB inspection was a disaster, lots needed to be down.  The awning wasn’t going to arrive.

But, let’s skip my histrionics.  I did my best, and it turned out my best was good enough.  ABF ticked me off OK, the Carnet arrived with minutes to spare.  All the services were done.  Even the awning arrived at the last minute – thrown into the back to be fitted hopefully in Dili.  I delivered to truck to the container people, a few hours late, but it got there.

But, geez, it was close to being a total disaster.

I flew back to Sydney on a flight that left at 2am, landing in Syd at 6:30am.  That, by itself, was brutal.

Oh – Darwin?  What a nice place.  Wide, spacious streets, great scenery, perfect weather, wonderful facilities. Darwin is a fantastic place.   I wandered through the night markets(above).  I splashed out on some some good accom on The Esplanade.  This was my joint.

Special mention to my mate Ian Jackson who did a lot to make my time there really good.