Mailing things to Australia

Hi! Alex's mom here with instructions on how to mail letters and packages to Elder Cook.

Letters are the easiest to mail.  Buy a $1.05 airmail stamp, or even better - buy 5 or 10 so you can send several letters without having to go back to the post office.  Use a regular-size envelope (up to 6" x 11 1/2", not square), and fill it with letters and pictures up to 1 ounce, about 5 sheets of paper.  It will cost more if you go over the weight limit or if you include anything other than paper.  Mail letters and packages to the address listed on the left side of the blog.

Packages are such a pain to send that probably nobody but me will do it.  I'm putting the instructions here anyway, just in case.  You can bring any size box to the post office and they will tell you the cheapest way to mail it, but count on it taking forever to get there.  International priority mail is a good compromise between cheap and fast as long as you aren't sending much.  The small box (8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8") costs $16.95 to send and takes about 2 weeks to get there.  It's really small but the next size up is $47.95.  See how difficult this is? And it gets worse.  If you actually go to the expense of sending one of these boxes you also need to fill out a customs form: PS Form 2976.  This form is only good for the small priority mail box.  If you use another box there is a different form.  The Post Office has the forms and you can fill them out by hand, but the Post Office inside my local grocery store will only accept the online printed forms.  Everything in the package has to be itemized by description (be specific!) and weight.

If you're still determined to send a package to Australia, there are lots of restrictions on what can be sent.  Australia won't allow the following products into the country: Everything.  Just kidding, but nearly all food products are prohibited.  Candy is ok as long as it doesn't contain fruit or nuts.  I think powdered drink mixes are ok, and maybe jello and pudding mixes.  DON'T send food containing grains, meat, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, seeds or nuts.  Also, don't send liquids or anything made with plant products (wood, straw, etc.).  If there is anything left that can be sent, it's probably something the missionaries aren't allowed to have.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.