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An Olympian task

The 2000 Olympic Games had finally ended but the enormous task of packing up had only just begun.

Thrilled when SOCOG representatives offered him the project, Greg from Penrith Pack & Send set about his new Olympian task.

For the next nine months, Greg, Margaret and their sons were to run their own 'Olympic' marathon, with jobs from packing and transporting the official Olympic Harley Davidsons, through to lighting and sporting equipment, 8 metre high giant kewpie dolls, as well as the 3 metre long sparkling shoe that Kylie Minogue performed in at the closing ceremony. Each precious piece of cargo was meticulously packed for a safe arrival at each destination.

The sheer volume of goods filled three warehouses, each filled and emptied on a daily basis.

Some of the memorabilia had an obvious home at the Olympic committee's museum in Switzerland, but others were up for bidding as buyers desperately vied for computers and televisions, through to more representative memorabilia and sporting equipment, touched by the hands of the world's greatest athletes.

Nine months later and the marathon over, Greg passes this job's finish line with all items home and in perfect condition.

A taste for the arts

Situated close to the advertising agencies and corporate clients of North Sydney, Kathy and Brian Goodwin of Crows Nest Pack & Send were used to handling the large and the unusual. But that didn't prepare them for the surprise of their latest call.

About to celebrate the production of its one-millionth tonne of Colorbond steel, BHP Billiton decided it would use Australia's most lauded artists to create artworks out of the steel itself, after which it would celebrate in style with an extravaganza art exhibition. Its only problem was in finding a logistics expert to help make it happen. And then the Goodwins got the call.

Twelve large pieces of steel were to be collected, professionally packaged and sent to famous Australian artists around the country, including one that would need to fly across the globe; a hop, skip and a jump over to world famous Aussie singer and painter, Rolf Harris, currently residing in London.

Trying out the Pack & Send 'no limits' policy for size, Brian decided this was just the job for him. And before he knew it, his custom designed travel crates returned with transformed artworks of steel - ready to be sent on to The Rocks in Sydney in time for the great unveiling. 'For a while it seemed the service centre room became an impromptu art gallery all of our own,' said Brian. 'I even have a signed package from Rolf Harris in my service centre as a memento!'