Uh-oh! Look out San Francisco!

[bikerz]

Well DD, as it happens, I am 5'3" as well - and I have a spare road bike!

I'll start asking around about a mountain bike you could borrow...

[DirtDiva]

You're gonna let me ride your shiny new Seven? Wicked!

[bikerz]

Ha! Nice try!

[jobob]

hmmm, we're about due for a SharffenBerger ride.

[kiwi girl]

We've taken our bikes to Australia 3 times. We've always given them a good clean in the hotel bathtub (and left a big tip for the maid) and have never had any problems with MAF. They just had a look at them to check they were clean. At least last time (I can't remember for sure about the other times) I declared that I had ridden through forests and farmland - I did have slicks on the bikes though and had only ridden on the road - they might be more fastidious if you had been offroad. They were fussier about my tent though - taking it into a sealed room to check (it was also fine)

[kiwi girl]

Actually I've just remembered that there might be another solution.

Are you flying AKL-CHC straight away the morning you get in? If your connecting flight number is NZ303 then that is an international connecting flight and you will clear customs/maf in CHC - so if you are relaxed about leaving your bike at the airport for the maffy bods to do their thing you should be alright

[DirtDiva]

Huh. I just read the fine print on my printout and you're absolutely right. I've always had to make the trek over to the domestic terminal to get a connecting flight, but I guess I'd always flown via LA. The plot thickens. Of course, I'm hoping to buy myself a full-suss for chrissy, so if it looks like some mtbing is on the cards I may not be able to resist the temptation to just go demo something flashy ...