Bureaucracy

We got word that the truck was going to be available on Monday 6th April. Instead of having to find our way by train to Port Kembla our customs agent offered us a ride. On arriving at Port Kembla Rhys (our customs agent) went to the guard house to get a pass so we were able to drive through the barrier and over to near where the truck was parked. When we arrived we could see the customs people around the vehicle. Rhys took the truck carnet (temporary import papers) over to the security fence, rolled them up and passed them through to the customs officers. He then told us we should wait in the nearby port office where security would come and get us to take us to the truck, so we could drive it away. We went into the office and after a short conversation we were told we would not be able to drive the truck out of the secured area as it didn’t have a NSW registration. This left us with the option of getting a registration or getting the truck transported out. As we had no way of getting to a place to get the registration paper we opted for a transporter. The office staff contacted a truckie and we had 30 minutes to wait before he was free. Our customs agent had advised us that before we were legal to drive on the NSW roads we needed to get a pink slip (like a WOF) and take it to the RTA office to get an unlicensed vehicle permit, so while we were waiting for the truckie the office staff helpfully found details of mechanics certified to do the pink slip check on the truck. Eventually the truckie turned up and told us to go and wait by the gate while he went and got the truck . We walked the 150 metres to the gate and from there got a glimpse of the truck loaded on the back of a transporter before it disappeared off in the opposite direction to where we were. As time passed Al and I had a discussion about which gate we were supposed to be waiting at, Al thought it was the main gate with the barrier arms while I thought it was the one closest to the port office. Al wandered a bit further down the road and then saw that the main gate was further away than he first thought. We decided to go back to the port office to find out exactly where we were supposed to be waiting. We had gone back only a few paces when we saw the transporter coming towards us. The truckie wound down the window and said he wasn’t supposed to be off loading so would go a little bit further down the road to where there was a place to park and where it was away from the cameras. We followed the truck down the road and Al took a couple of photos of the truck being off loaded. We then hopped into the truck and were on our way (so we thought)
We drove to the main gate and pushed the intercom button for the guard so he would lift the barrier. The guard asked “ what is your pass number”, Al replied “ I haven’t got a pass”. The guard then said “you can’t get out if you don’t have a pass” Al said we had come in with Rhys who got a temporary pass but didn’t have one ourselves. The guard then asked “How did your truck get in” Al told him that it had come over by boat from NZ and we had just picked it up. The guard said we should have a pass but he would let us out and we should stop at the guard house. We duly drove through the barrier and past the guard house then did a u-turn and parked nearby. Al went over to the guard house where a very grumpy guard moaned that he had broken the rules, that he would note it down and we shouldn’t do it again. He also asked if we had been taking photos as he had received a report that someone had been seen taking photos. Al admitted to taking a photo of the truck on the transporter but said little more remembering that the truckie said he wasn’t supposed to off load.
Having been told the error of our ways we then went to look for a mechanic. The first one we visited was busy and couldn’t fit us in until the next day as was another one we phoned but they helpfully suggested another who might be free. A phone call to him confirmed he was free to we drove to his workshop. When he saw the NZ registration plates he wasn’t sure whether we should have a pink or blue slip and wanted us to get confirmation from the RTA. He couldn’t get through to them by phone so we drove there, fortunately it wasn’t far away. The guy at the RTA didn’t know what was required so looked it up on their database and it seemed that we didn’t require any checks or slips of paper. He made a phone call to confirm this, it was, so at last we were free to go.