Re: Sending seed to Australia

From: "Sterling Okase" <sterling_o@hotmail.com>

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the information regarding Australian Postal Customs. This is 
good information to know when we send seeds to Australia in the future.
 
>From: Paul & Yvonne Tyerman <tyerman@dynamite.com.au>
 
>Howdy All,
>	Just for the information of our Australian listeners (There's quite a 
few
>of us now!!), importing seed into the country is quite acceptable.  I 
have
>spoken directly to the Customs people after Sterling sent me over some
>seeds and they queried what a couple of them were.
>To send seed to Australia you need to clearly label the individual seed
>packet/packets with the name of the plant (iris in this case..) making 
sure
>that the spelling of the species is correct (Sterling had an i that 
looked
>like an l and they queried it to make sure).  Declare on the outside of 
the
>parcel/envelope that there are seeds inside.  Customs will open it and
>check on the species/type etc and make sure they are OK for this 
country.
>They will also randomly open some of the seed packets to check for 
obvious
>signs of disease (Sterling sent me 50 different crosses or something 
like
>that and they may have checked 1/5 at the most).  If they have any 
problems
>they will keep the seeds that concern them and send the rest on to 
you....
>you'll then receive a letter to tell you that such and such seeds are 
in
>Quarantine and could you please contact them.  I rang them and we 
worked it
>out over the phone... they sent the seeds they weren't sure of on to me
>after that.

I remember it took a while for you to get those seeds, about three weeks 
from the time I mailed it, I believe. And to think it was my impeccable 
handwriting that held things up for you......*WELL!*   Mother always 
told me how important good handwriting is.....whodda thought......   ; - 
)

Did you eventually get the poppy seeds then? Next time I will spell it 
"PANSY"
just kidding.......I am not looking to get arrested.

>Some unspecified time later (I think we're talking weeks not months) 
the
>lady was taking some washing out to the line and as she walked past the
>cactus she noticed that it was vibrating.  Seeing nothing obvious she
>feared the worst and contacted the quarantine people and told them what
>she'd seen.  She was warned to leave the house immediately and get all 
her
>neighbours out of the area as well.  A VERY short time later they 
turned up
>in biohazard gear and basically wrapped the cactus up and sealed it and
>took it away.
>Supposedly there is a type of spider that nests in these cactus.  It is
>poisonous and very dangerous.  If the cactus had split apart the
>neighbourhood would have been overrun with these venemous little alien 
(as
>in foreign, not from outer space) spiders. 
>I'd actually be interested to know if any of you guys out there have 
ever
>heard of this before.  It sounds pretty scarey.
 
I had a very large cactus collection for many years  while living in 
Hawaii and I never had nor heard of a problem such as the above. I would 
give anything to see a vibrating cactus.


Iris Maniac,
Sterling (not Innerst)
Seattle, WA. Zone 8
AIS, KCIS, HIPS and MIS
sterling_o@hotmail.com

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