‘Life as an Australian Horseman’ and ‘A Million Acre Masterpiece’ are very popular as unique Australian gifts. The number of orders received this week from businesses mailing corporate gifts overseas has prompted me to post a reminder – if you are mailing gifts overseas, either corporate or personal, then keep an eye on the calendar. (Also bearing in mind that I will also be away for approximately 2 weeks in mid/late November 2010, see the separate post with dates.)
All orders are sent overseas by Australia Post airmail which takes only 1-2 weeks to deliver to the most common countries I receive orders from, for example:
- 7-10 days airmail from Australia to New Zealand
- 10-14 days airmail from Australia to the U.S. and Canada
- 10-14 days airmail from Australia to England, Ireland and Scotland
Some countries that would be expected to be fairly quick actually take quite a while, for example:
- 14-30 days airmail from Australia to parts of Europe such as France, Germany and Italy
And in some South American countries (eg Brazil and Argentina) and African countries (South Africa, Kenya and Botswana), airmail delivery from Australia can take 30-60 days. Sometimes parcels to African countries do not arrive at all, so parcels to these countries should be sent by a more expensive service that is faster and provides a complete tracking service.
It’s far better to order early and have a parcel waiting to be opened in December or on Christmas Day, than cut it fine and be left worrying that it won’t be delivered in time. In Australia, Australia Post staff work much longer hours in December to cope with the massive increase in mail and delivery to New Zealand and the U.S. seems to stay the same in December, however overseas delivery of mail to some other countries is much slower – as in several weeks slower. Sometimes mail that is not delivered by Christmas does not arrive until mid or even late January. Part of the delay could perhaps be attributed to customs inspection bottlenecks in the receiving country and extra postal staff holidays after Christmas.
If you have any queries about mailing gifts overseas, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Tags: Fiona Lake Photography