Zero weeks to go
Time to pack up the bike and get on plane.
Happily, I do have a bikebox! On Thursday morning I planned a pilgrimage around all the local bikeshops, followed by a trip to arrive at Decathalon at 10am as I was advised. But the first bike shop had a box I could take! So that problem got solved early. I'd visited them last weekend and they'd offered to call if they got a bikebox. I guess I'll know better next time.
I did manage to dig up my gear list from previous trips and check that I still had everything. I haven't gone through videos on all the various repair techniques this time, so if I need to replace a chain link, there may be some guesswork. This trip is not getting quite the same level of effort and care that previous ones did...
One advantage of these sorts of trips is that there's very little luggage. The downside is that it has to be packed very carefully. One pannier will be checked in, the other will be in the cabin. Tools, tyre sealant, toiletries and other stuff goes into the checked bag; electronics and batteries for the cabin. The two panniers are identical and getting them mixed up would mean a lot of expensive and difficult-to-replace gear gets binned. So I've marked the hold bag with blue tape.
Time for the bike. Pedals off, bagged and into the frame bag. Front wheel off, axle reinserted and wrapped up so it doesn't get everything oily. Make up a cardboard spacer to go into the brake caliper so it doesn't stick shut, tape it into place. Seat off, wrap up the oily stem. Handlebar off, by removing the faceplate: this is low effort and I'm not sure it's the right way but it's good enough. Forgot to deflate the tyres so do that now, if they're at full pressure in the depressurized cargo hold they'll probably do something messy and regrettable.
The bike box is now ready to go. The Korean Airlines website says the maximum size is 292cm, while this box is 180+100+20cm which a bit more; hopefully they don't notice. The KLM website instructs you to update your booking with the bike and pay extra, and do this change as far in advance as possible. Korean Airlines has nothing of the sort. I've carefully trawled their website, looking for any way to indicate I'm travelling with a bicycle; I've even asked their chatbot. There is nothing. I am not reassured.
So when I show up at the checkin desk, I'm expecting measuring tape, surcharges, and possible denial. Actual result: none of the above - includjng no extra charges! The bikebox is classed as "additional luggage", I believe, despite being the size and shape of a flat-packed piano. I roll over to Outsize Baggage and watch until it's gone through the barrier and into baggage processing. (Yes, this is a habit resulting from near-theft in Santiago. It's probably some form of PTSD. Please accommodate me.)
From left to right: Bike packed up. All the gear for the next six weeks. Only just fits into the oversized luggage. Mt Taranaki. This bike has passed Biosecurity.
The big drama for the flight is that I have a 90 minute stopover in Seoul - and the flight is departing about an hour late. Earlier today China closed its airspace for about hour, which delayed the previous flight for an hour. That doesn't leave much time in Seoul; and it's easy to see a big bulky bike box being accidentally left behind because it's too much of a hassle.
The flight to Korea is 12.5 hours - will some time be made up? Not really; we're still about an hour behind schedule when we land. At Seoul there's an attendant on the airbridge picking up passengers for the flight to Auckland, there's three of us. We scurry across the airport, get the fast lane through security, beeline through the duty-free maze, to arrive at the gate and board immediately. No time to spare. Could baggage handlers find, unload, transfer, and load my stuff on the new plane in that time? I think not.
It's another 10.5 hours to Auckland. I probably look like some hunchbacked goblin-creature by the end of it, twisted and bent by 23 hours in an economy-class seat six inches shorter than I am. I lurch through passport control (the automatic gate denies me twice, it lets me through when I put my pannier over the fence), stumble down the stairs and I'm only hobbling slightly when I get to baggage pickup to find the bikebox got there first.
This is unprecedented. Oversized luggage arriving before the regular sized stuff has never happened to me before. Waiting forlornly by the oversized luggage belt, for the box to be delivered is the normal way to travel with bikes...
But here it was. I double-checked it in case it was not actually mine, loaded up and headed for biosecurity. This being New Zealand, there's some anxiety. Got any dirty outdoors equipment that might need cleaning, like tent pegs? My whole bike, actually. The officer pops the box open, has a look, decides it's probably OK. The tent goes off for cleaning. I get my stuff x-rayed, pick up the bike, collect the clean tent, and head out. Total time from landing to the arrival hall was thirty minutes.
So it ended up being the simplest and fastest flight I've ever had with the bike. Korean Air is great! If I have a choice, I'll take them again next time.
From left to right: wrapped brakes. The reassembled bike. Cuba St water fountain is still here! Better street art. Buienradar works here too!
I'm now in Wellington. On Thursday I'm catching the evening ferry to Picton and on the morning of Friday the 5th I start riding. So I've got a few days to catch up with friends ... and metabolize the GMT+13 hit they serve here in the summertime.
