**For more information about the shipment see www.wijzijnweg.org under the section Travel Info - Shipment**

Before arriving in Darwin, we received a mail from Christian (from the Myanmargroup) where he explains step by step what to do to get our motorbike from the harbour. He explains that we first have to go to our shipping agent TOLL. But apparently a few things have changed because ANL has taken over the international shipments from TOLL. This means we have to look for the ANL office. We don’t know where this is so we first go to the Customs to register our bike. Customs has to send the paperwork to the Quarantine Service (AQIS) so we can make an appointment for the quarantine inspection. Customs says this may take several hours and so we have to wait to call AQIS.
We call AQIS the next day and are told that there were snails on our container so it can still take a while before the container is released. We also call the Customs and AQIS but we aren’t getting any wiser.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, we go to the ANL office and after some searching we find it. However, they tell us that they don’t deal with shared containers but that we need to contact ANL Logistics for this. They don’t have an office in Darwin so everything must be done by phone or email with the head office in Melbourne. Next we go to AQIS as we yesterday evening received an email with a Q-number and the bill for the inspection. We know that we need a Q-number to make an appointment with the inspection. At AQIS we pay the bill for the inspection but they explain that we should contact the Port Authority that handles the containers for ANL. Everything seems to be going well and we send all our data to the Port Authority. However, they ask some papers from us that we have never heard about. Because of the time difference with Melbourne we can’t contact the head office anymore, and tomorrow is Christmas. This means we’ll have to wait a few days.
On Christmas Day we’re invited by Linda of AQIS and she can tell us more about our container. She even remembers our container number and tells us she has personally released that container the day before. She’s able to tell us why the release has taken so long. Apparently, there was dirt on the outside of the container which had to be cleaned, and a second inspection was needed.
Between Christmas and New Year some people seem to be working with our container and there is finally some progress. On the day of New Year's Eve, we have an appointment with AQIS and also Customs is present on this appointment. Customs stamps our Carnet but pays little attention to the content of our luggage. Also with the Quarantine Inspection we are lucky, the inspector is strict but fair and passes us without problems. After two hours waiting for the arrangement of some paperwork, we can drive home!
The day after New Year everything is open again and we take our motorbike to the test of roadworthiness, and also arrange our motorbike insurance so we can drive legally in Australia. The Motor Vehicle Registration (MVR) opens again on January 2nd, and here everything is well organized. The inspector checks the tires, lights and horn, hereafter you go to the office where you pay the bill and get all the papers. Here we have lost some time because we didn’t have all the necessary documents with us. We recommend you to bring:

1) Passport
2) Driver’s License. A European driver’s license is valid across whole Australia. At the MVR they tried to foist us an Australian driver's license. Don’t do this, this is by no means necessary!
3) Credit Card, no ordinary ATM card. The name of the account holder must be printed in relief.
4) Proof of address in Australia. The hostel bill should be sufficient. However, we stayed with a friend so we didn’t have a bill. Therefore, we opened a bank account. This was also sufficient for the MVR.

At the MVR you can immediately arrange your insurance, but please note that this insurance covers only the Northern Territory! We have taken insurance valid for one month, then we will have to take a new one in another state. In other states we should be able to get insurance that covers whole Australia.
Now we are finally free to drive around in Australia, after about three working days after the release of the container.

More info on www.wijzijnweg.org