Australia Post parcel's 'laughable' 9000km journey: 'Been more places than us'

“Your birthday present is in the mail,” is an excuse many Aussies may be familiar with.

But for one Gold Coast man it’s a line he’s been forced to give his wife for the last 20 days as his parcel makes an astonishing 9,000 kilometre journey across the country.

“It’s gotten to the stage where it’s laughable,” Nick Goodrick told Channel Nine.

“It’s like a guessing game of where it will be each day.”

The 58-year-old bought the birthday present online from Western Australia at the end of May.

Since then, it has passed through three states with no end in sight.

According to A Current Affair, Mr Goodrick’s tracking number showed the parcel left Geraldton, a country town about 400 kilometres north of Perth, on May 31. Six days later, it was processed at a facility in Sydney’s west, and less than an hour later it was on its way to Brisbane.

By June 7, it was bound for its final destination, the Gold Coast, but somehow ended up back in Sydney.

Within a minute, reportedly, it was sent back to Brisbane where it arrived a day later.

Hopes were high in the Goodrick household but they were quickly dashed when the parcel was spotted en route back to Sydney.

Then, like clockwork, the parcel was redirected back to Brisbane, ACA said.

“It’s been more places than we’ve been during the last couple of years,” Mr Goodrick’s wife, Kirsten, added as she awaits her much delayed birthday gift.

Unfortunately, they aren't the only Aussies waiting by the mailbox.

Bruce Greenaway, also from the Gold Coast, said his package made 24 stops before it reached his home.

After leaving Yamba on the NSW North Coast on May 20, the 68-year-old's parcel passed through Sydney, the NSW Central West, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane on repeat for 18 days.

“According to Australia Post’s tracking, it travelled somewhere around 18,000 kilometres,” Mr Greenaway told Channel Nine.

Even more straightforward journeys seem to be causing headaches for Australia Post customers.

Andrew Lindsey had been waiting for a package from Rochedale in Brisbane to arrive in Jimboomba, just south of the city.

It’s only a 30 minute journey by car.

But for Australia Post, the parcel went interstate, travelling to Chullora in NSW and Fyshwick in the ACT before reaching its final destination back in Queensland.

“They are so full of excuses,” Mr Lindsey wrote on Facebook, “no one knew where my parcel was.”

His story was slammed as ‘typical’ by other social media users.

“It would have been quicker to drive to Rochdale to pick it up,” one person said.

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In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, Australia Post says it processes and delivers up to 14 million parcels each week, with the majority arriving safely and on time.

“Sometimes issues such as incorrect address details, smudged or ineligible writing or an incorrect postcode can create challenges for us, and occasionally our sorting machines can get it wrong,” it said.

"When we were alerted to the issue, Australia Post located both customers packages. One of these packages has now been delivered and we are working to get the remaining package delivered as an urgent priority."

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