I sold an old Parks 1.5 inch equatorial and shipped it to Adelaide from Perth using Pack and Send. It was a bit of work to secure everything to an old pallet and then wrap it in plastic. Then I delivered it to the Pack and Send depot on my boat trailer.
The total weight was around 95kg including pallet. Cost was just under $300 around 3 years ago.
I've not sent heavy items but have received via the aforementioned pack and send. It seems the best option when Aus post have weight and cubed capacity limitations. Other than that a separate freight quote from any of the larger freight companies is always a good option. Some smaller local freight mobs (depending on locale) can give slightly better pricing and still ship it through the major distributors so reliability is usually good as far as time and security goes.
Years ago, like 10 of them, Hunter express was the way. Depot to Depot or Door to Door. I sent lots of boxes and once wrapped a pallet of stuff in plastic and put it on the couriers truck with a fork lift. Was a while ago though.
I had a lx90 8” Brought to me by pack and send, the local Adelaide outlet owner picked up the scope from seller home and packed it for me. Not all will do this. Have used the few times been good experience. You can do branch to branch and pickup from branch also.
