Preparing for Europe.

Sat  18th April 2015

Matilda is on the high seas heading for Antwerpe (Belgium). We will be leaving in just over a week to meet her, with stopovers in Singapore, Dubai and Paris on the way. That is my solution to the horrendously long flights in cattle class....

According to everything I can find on the web (which is very little) we will not need a carnet in Europe and will be spared paying duty or taxes on entry to EU countries. We just need to sign a stat dec that we will not sell the vehicle in Europe. 

But I had a phone call yesterday from the shipping agent (Jim at Colless-Young). The Belgium agent says we would be better to have a carnet, or we will have to pay 30% of the value of the vehicle as a deposit refundable when we leave the country (a week later!) Depending on the vehicle valuation that could be as low as $50,000! Grrrrrr! So I will try to get our carnet extended next week. 

The other issue which is very difficult to work out is how long we can have the vehicle in either individual countries, or in the EU. We have established that the Shengen Zone does not relate to objects (vehicles) but only to people. So we can stay a total of 90 days in any 180 day period in the Shengen zone countries. But in the EU countries we can have the vehicle a total of 6 months. Some countries the vehicle can stay for a year. I haven't been able to find out anything about multiple entries for the vehicle. It seems we are going to have to juggle our visa and the car's time allowances to be able to have the multiple trips we want. 

We are starting in Belgium, and going through Netherlands and Denmark (EU and Shengen countries) to  Sweden and Norway (Shengen but not EU). We will then return to Czech Republic (EU and Shengen). This trip is to take us three months. That will be our Shengen quota until end October. 

Monday 20th October

I have spoken with RACQ re the carnet. Since our carnet expired before we could get it back to Australia it cannot now be extended. So we need a new one, with a new $400 fee plus a $100 "rush" fee to have it completed before we leave. 

AAA (Australian Automobile Association) says that EU countries don't require a carnet, but some of them (such as Italy, Greece and Turkey, and now apparently Belgium) do ask for one. They advised us to have one.....

This increases the cost of touring the world considerably. It seems we will have to have a large amount of money (100% of the value of the vehicle) tied up in bank term deposits for the whole time that we need a carnet - we have other uses for that money! Oh well.... Others have sold their houses to finance similar trips to ours so I guess I shouldn't complain! 

Wednesday 22/4/15

We have got our Carnet! That was indeed quick! 

I have also heard from the EU consulate that the EU doesn't regulate temporary import of vehicles from outside the EU, only movement of vehicles within the EU. So that means that member countries make their own rules about vehicles such as ours. It will be up to Czech Republic whether or not they will allow us to leave the vehicle there for 6 months while we come home. 

So I am feeling excited about the upcoming trip now! The major hurdles have been jumped and I think we can cope with the rest.

Sat 25th April
A copy of the Carnet has been sent ahead to Antwerpe so they can prepare for offloading the vehicle.  I also sent a copy of the Australian and Japanese customs stamps in case that is needed. Flights and hotels have been booked, including return flights, in case EU requires onwards tickets before we can board our flights here. I think by the time we've seen most of the world we will have experienced all of the problems once and will know how to do this with no hitches!

We have been reading about Norway and seeing stunning photographs. I'm practicing my photography skills in readiness, so watch this space!