For most moves between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, your household goods will cross the Cook Strait. This is a journey that needs expert coordination, planning and logistics when shipping your household goods between Wellington and Picton.
Fortunately Crown Relocations has been providing inter-island moving services for more than 50 years. Our knowledge and experience with inter-island shipping in NZ ensures your belongings and household goods are transported safely and securely the whole way.
And we don’t just transport household belongings over the Strait. Our Crown teams plan and coordinate entire inter-island moves throughout New Zealand, using trucks, rail and coastal shipping as needed.
We offer a nation-wide Crown to Crown service, made possible with our network of 9 branches: Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin. Our locally-based teams of Crown staff and Logistics planners coordinate your move together – so you know your household goods are in safe hands the whole way through.
When relocating between the North and South Islands, there is a lot to consider and plan around. Coordinating road and rail freight with ferry schedules needs to be arranged in advance, especially during busy times of the year. Maximising available space when using sea freight within NZ is also needed, and enables more cost-effective moves as well.
Crown is the expert in moving household freight from North Island to South Island. We partner with KiwiRail for most of our long distance moves. Rail is more robust and sustainable than using long-haul road transport, bypassing delays with roadworks, weather events closing roads and traffic congestion.
Planning for potential delays is also crucial at every stage of the journey. Our teams are aware that the Cook Strait can be anything but straight-forward when moving goods. We have secure Crown storage facilities located at all our branches, giving us easy access to short or long term storage as is needed.
Inter-island moves don’t always involve relocating a full household at once. Many customers downsize prior to moving into an apartment, or a retirement unit. Other customers move themselves first and have the rest of their belongings transported later. This often happens when waiting for a settlement date. It all depends on your situation and requirements. Our Crown teams are experts in finding the right solutions for moving any sized household freight throughout NZ
For full household moves, your goods are professionally packed, inventoried, and loaded into a custom-built sole use container. This is sealed for added security throughout the journey to their new destination. If needing storage, there’s no extra handling as we just store your container in our secure storage facilities until they can be unloaded at your new home.
For partial moves, Crown offers shared container options to consolidate smaller loads going to the same region or city. This allows you to move selected furniture and other belongings without needing a dedicated container. Your household goods are clearly identified, documented and handled separately, maintaining full care and accountability right through to their destination. While a shared container can take some weeks to arrive, this option is much more cost-effective.
Unlike general freight providers, household relocations require expert handling, secure transport and clear accountability throughout the move. Crown’s domestic household freight services in NZ are carefully coordinated to minimise handling during a move, and maximise accountability for your household belongings.
Crown provides domestic shipping services in NZ for household goods and personal belongings. Whether you are relocating a full household or a partial load, we move all kinds of furniture and personal belongings. We professionally pack and transport furniture such as beds, couches and dining tables, as well as cartons of books, clothing and kitchenware.
If you have fragile items in your household move, such as your grandmother’s china or a collection of artwork, we provide special professional packing. This ensures these items are well protected throughout the move.
As experienced movers of very large items, we have relocated pianos, pool tables, and spa pools, as well as heavy work benches, workshop machines and large garden ornaments. These kinds of items may require specialised equipment at either end of your move, depending on access.
It’s important to note we cannot carry any hazardous items in any move for safety reasons. This includes fireworks, flammable liquids and solids such as petrol, matches, and lighters, as well as aerosol cans for example.
We also offer CrownCare Moving Insurance to protect your belongings while they are being moved at all stages in New Zealand – locally, long distance and inter-island. From packing and loading to unpacking at your new destination, our specialised household goods insurance gives you peace of mind throughout the journey.
Crown’s process for moving domestic shipping and freight is carefully coordinated and planned with our customers’ requirements in mind. It all starts when we receive your enquiry or a quote request for shipping household goods within NZ.
Our process for moving household freight:
Crown also offers additional services to help you with your move – so you can relax more on your own inter-island move.
Inter-island moves can sometimes involve timing gaps when settlement dates don’t align or new builds are delayed. Ferry schedules may not have the preferred dates, while weather in the Cook Strait can affect sailing times.
Crown has flexible storage options that bridge timing gaps when using our inter-island freight services. If immediate delivery isn’t possible, your household goods can be stored in secure Crown storage facilities at origin or destination points.
Short term container storage during a move can be available for up to four weeks before being delivered to your residence. Because our containers are purpose built, we can store the whole container which eliminates any double handling. Short term storage is ideal for settlement date gaps.
If long-term storage is needed to support staged moves or delayed new builds, this can be arranged as well.
Crown handles your NZ inter-island freight move cohesively so timing, storage and delivery are managed together.
Inter-island shipping refers to transporting household goods and personal effects between the North and South Islands. Crown manages this process as part of a planned domestic relocation, including coordination of freight and delivery timing.
Yes. Crown provides inter-island shipping services for household goods, whether as part of a full home relocation or for partial household freight requiring careful handling.
Crown ships furniture, boxed household items and personal effects as part of domestic freight services. Each shipment is planned to ensure items are protected and handled appropriately.
Yes. Crown offers secure short-term and long-term storage options for customers who require flexibility due to timing gaps, renovations or staged relocations.
Yes. This page focuses on domestic shipping and freight within New Zealand. Customers requiring overseas shipping are directed to Crown’s international shipping and freight services.
Planning an inter-island move? Crown Relocations NZ has the knowledge and experience you need. For over 50 years, we have successfully shipped household goods between the North and South Islands. Our nationally coordinated services ensures you get the same moving expertise whenever you need an inter-island move.
Whether you are moving from Christchurch to Auckland or Hamilton to Timaru, Crown Relocations NZ are here to help.
Call our friendly moving experts on: 0508 227 696 or you can use our online quote form
