Collecting Mail

[Guest Atie]

Hi to all,

We are about to set out on our maiden voyage around Australia and would like feedback on the best way of collecting mail, parcells etc as we go. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Arthur & Adriana

[Blueheeler]

Atie,

There is a company called LANDBASE AUSTRALIA that forwards your mail to you next destination. I personally haven't used it, but it's been around for a long time.

Phone No. 0408 686 461

Fax 0243237326

Email lbase@ozemail.com.au

Website http://www.ozemail.com.au/-lbase

Here is another,

Mail to Follow

Phone No. 0738868726

Email mailto follow@bigpond.com

Website www.mailtofollow.com.au

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

Regards,

Kingy

[Jacky Jacky]

Arthur/Adriana,

There are a few companies that can look after your mail, two of which Kingy has mentioned.

There is some more information on that subject here as well as a link on that site to SOS Mail Solutions.

[Guest Atie]

Thanks for your help we will follow up these contacts.

Arthur & Adriana

[sid fish]

We've been on the road a year now, and have what seems to be a very workable arrangement.

We started by looking at Landbase and others similar, and shied away once we read the "fine print" - it costs a lot of money! If money's not a real issue, then I think they probably provide a very good service, including being able to change your forwarding address "instantly" with just an email or phonecall.

So we then decided to use good ol' Australia Post. We set up a PO Box and had all mail sent to it. Then we just used the official redirection system to have mail forwarded on to various locations. This worked OK at first, despite the 5 day activation delay, until we got to Darwin GPO. They were hopeless. Unlike PO's such as Broome (and I suspect most other POs) which itemise every single item of incoming mail on a computer, and then dig them out for you when you turn up, Darwin GPO appeared to not use the computer at all. Rather, the mail was just stuck in a rack, supposedly in alphabetical order, and God help you if someone sticks it in the wrong place. They "lost" quite a lot of our mail, most of which we eventually recovered, after insisting they search more thoroughly after they initially assured us we had no mail. We made an official complaint, the result of which I still have not heard after many months.

Finally then, in desperation, we spoke to the bloke in charge of the local PO where we have our box, and came to a "local arrangement". The mail just gets put in our box until we call him periodically with our latest once-off location, upon which he plonks it all in an express bag. This occurs expenses which he keeps track of, and now and then we give him more than enough to cover it - he's happy, we're happy, it works well, and still costs a heap less than any of the private schemes.

So if you don't have a trustworthy friend or relative to perform this function (and this is definitely the best way to go!), then go talk nicely to your local postmaster. And remember, it's an unofficial arrangement, so don't tell him I sent you . . .

[Guest Dave & Shell]

Dear Arthur and Adriane,

We have been on the road for 5 months now and have used Landbase Australia the whole time. they are expensive but very very reliable. we have never had a problem. we E-mail when and where we want our mail delivered and it is there in 3 business days. You also get a reply to your E-mail to say that it has been sent.

Hope this helps,

Dave & Shell

[Guest Atie]

Dave & Shell,

Lucky people being on the road for this amount of time, we are tyding up a few things and then we will be hitting the road as well, hopefully 4 to 5 weeks then we'll be off.

Thanks for the "collecting mail" tip.

Regards

Arthur & Adriana

[Guest Kim & Mary Jane]

kim & Mary Jane,

We have been using Landbase Australia since August last year . Thay havn't mised a beat , Jan is very accomodating. It does cost , but what doesn't these days .

Have fun travelling.

KIm& MJ