The Arrival........Day #5

First thing on the agenda was to head off to Limassol, I had to be there for 9.30am to meet the customs clearance agent.

Getting to Limassol was the easy bit, but the instructions were to meet at Limassol port, not any particular building or office etc. There was a couple of gates into the port, but these were strictly for the actual container trucks. I asked one of the security guards and he pointed me back along the road to another building.

I arrived at the port car park around 9.10am, so had a bit to kill, there was a building that had "Customs House" on it, but not exactly sure where I was meant to be meeting the guy. Seeing as I had plenty of time, I dropped an email to the shipper, and they said simply to phone the guy and he would meet me at the door.

So, phoned the guy and sure enough he rocked up outside customs house, but his office was round the side in a separate wing. We went in and he started completing the paperwork. I had previously received an email from the shipper listing examples of paperwork I would need to provide to prove I was transferring my residence and that goods were used. This was for the duty free import of goods from outside of the EU. At least two forms of evidence were required and passport was a mandatory requirement, so over and above this, I provided;

For the point of origin;

• villa return paperwork
• school attendance certificates
• contract termination
• Qatar RP card

For Cyprus end;

• Villa lease agreement
• School acceptance letter
• New car order
• New mobile phone contract

After this was completed, we went into the main Customs House and the customs inspector reviewed the evidence, checked them off the list and then stamped the paperwork. Job done.

The agent and shipper now had to arrange for a customs agent to be present at delivery to witness the container seal breaking and verify the goods were used. This could take a few days. I will just have to wait for the shipper to get back to me, probably the day before delivery...time to wait again.

Car Pickup

Having confirmed the opening time of the car salesroom the previous day, I did a search for local taxi companies and gave one in Coral Bay a phone to come and collect me. I had tried the number online for the one in Tala, but it was dead. I gave the expediter the address and he said it would be about 15 minutes. A short while later, I received a call from him and the driver couldn't find the address, so explained to him again. Another phone call shortly later and the guy said the driver was on the road waiting, but I couldn't see him anywhere and no cars had been past. I went looking and waited outside, but no joy. I phoned the guy back and said I would meet the taxi at the Amphitheatre cafe and to wait there. After a short walk, the car was waiting. Jumped in and we headed off to the garage in Paphos.

Arriving at the garage, I walked in and was met by the salesman. The car was inside the showroom waiting. We had a look round the car, and the guy fitted trade plates on the car as it still wasn't registered. He took my passport, as they needed it to register me onto the Department of Transport system and get the car registered. He said this would take a few days.

After they took the car out of the showroom, off I went. The car feels great, better than I thought it would. On the way home, I took it up some and down some of the really steep inclines and descents, and it managed no problem. Better than the hire cars did anyway!

Anyway, here it is;