Twelve years of 'I'll sort it later' in Gold Coast

A friend in Gold Coast gave me Clear Out's number, and I sat on it for a fortnight before ringing. Our double garage hadn't seen a car since about 2014. My husband swore it was organised chaos. I'm reasonably sure it was just chaos.

Along one wall were boxes from our last move that had never been opened. The other side had timber offcuts, a mower that wouldn't start, garden pots, and an old couch my son used as a 'gaming area' for one summer.

Gold Coast is a city of beachside towers, canal homes, family suburbs and hinterland acreage, and getting things out isn't always simple. We bring the right truck for the street, from tight unit driveways to wide acreage tracks.

When I rang, the person who answered asked a few simple questions about what it was, where it was and how to get to it, and said they could come and look that afternoon.

The crew pulled up, had a look, and told me the price straight away. No surprises, no 'we'll see how it goes'. I said yes and they got started within five minutes.

The leaning shelving turned out to be holding up more than we thought. The crew unloaded it top-down and took the shelving apart instead of just dragging it, which was just as well, because the back legs had rusted through.

What I appreciated most was that nothing was rushed and nothing was a hassle. They explained where everything was going: charity, recycling or the tip. I felt good about it.

It's a small thing, but having someone else carry it all out made a much bigger difference than I expected.