3/01 – How hard can it be? Departure No 4 – 10 Jan 2024

09 Jan 2025

I’ve often heard it said that half the fun in a trip/journey/holiday is in the planning and anticipation; I’m not sure I’d agree!

Getting my bike physically on its way to NZ was easy enough, if you discount the mega oil leak it developed on route from Fresno, and the rain – first in several months – and fog in San Francisco as I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. You may recall that the “sight” was more mysterious than spectacular since I couldn’t even see the railings, never mind the superstructure. It was the mental and bureaucratic that taxed my peace of mind and my patience.

One might think that organisations, and by association the folk that work in them, that advertise themselves as expert and experienced in a particular field would be just that; in other words they would know the procedures to follow and the paperwork required to do what they say they do. I am sure there are individuals in these organisations that are very knowledgeable and efficient, but sadly, for the client, these are found in the advertising, sales and accounting departments; those in the operations departments give the impression of being first-timers.

Take the issue of the Carnet de Passage en Douane, CdP for short. This is a document that enables a traveller with a vehicle or other goods to avoid paying customs duty on entry to a country. You pay a fee and leave a deposit with an issuing organisation and this guarantees payment of duty should you fail to adhere to the requirements of the country you are visiting. Not every country requires one; mostly, in my experience, those that are less developed economically – and New Zealand! Australia requires one also, but I haven’t tried to cross that bridge yet.

Anyway, although it is required for importation, the US shipping agent (West Coast Shipping) decided that they needed it in order to export the bike. I duly arranged to have it posted to them. They then said it had to be signed by the holder. I sent then a signed copy. They said they needed the original, then asked if I consented to their using the bike’s registration document instead. “Use whatever you need to,” was my printable response. 

The bike duly found its way into a container and onto a ship, and finally arrived in Auckland. Three or four days later I thought it might be wise to check on the clearance process, not having heard from the NZ shipping company (CFRLine, NZ). In return I received an email asking me to respond to an internal email sent three days previously!

It was now the evening , or rather the night, of my departure, and I was busily trying to complete the one hundred little tasks that I somehow had not managed to do over the preceding six weeks. Now I had to engage in an email exchange providing information that I had already provided, completing forms that I had previously been told were not required, and resending documents with relevant sections highlighted as the recipient didn’t seem able to identify what he was looking for. I duly completed all the forms sent – required or not, I decided this was the easiest and quickest route.

I was also told I would have to pay import duty, which would be refunded when I left the country. Yes, that is why I had invested in a CdP! I sent a copy of the CdP informing CFRLine that I had sent the document to WCS and confirmed that they would forward it to CFRLine. 

I received a request to send the CdP to their office as it was needed for importation! 

I sent a copy of my correspondence with WCS confirming that they would forward the vehicle documents to CFRLine.

I received a response asking me to ask WCS to forward the documents to CFRLine.

I resent the correspondence with WCS, with the relevant parts highlighted and in bold, and enquired whether these two partner companies actually spoke to each other. At the same time I messaged WCS asking for confirmation that the documents had, in fact been sent. I received a swift response, both from my contact and from the COO, Alex Naumov, who seemed to be the only individual on top of things.

Next morning, as I was setting out, I saw a message confirming that the CdP was actually in the CFRLine office, and had been all along! It would appear that, not only do they not talk to their partners, but they don’t even talk to each other! 

I also got another email with an invoice attached! See above! 🤣

I could go into the story of trying to insure the bike, or trying to make sense of the simplified procedure for getting a NZ visa, of but I don’t want to bore you totally.

10 Jan 2025

I am now on my way! Thanks to my friend Stéphane, well his wife Suzanne actually 😊, I didn’t have to catch a bus at 0700, and was able to leave home at 0800 to catch the train at 0930. This part of the journey will take 7 hours, followed by an overnight stop in Nice and then a 27 hour flight to Auckland, via Doha. I’ll let you know.