Fiji > The airport of Guangzhou

At 6:30 a.m. local Chinese time, the China Southern Airlines plane lands in Guangzhou. By the time I join the line at customs, I have already been traveling for about fifteen hours. I still have a full day to go before reaching my destination in Fiji. The Guangzhou airport building looks new. It is not busy. Everything suggests that the airport was built to accommodate future growth. Many shops are not yet open. The airport building has little atmosphere. We wander back and forth along the gates, drink coffee, and sit in the chairs, waiting for the connecting flight. The wait feels long—very long. The massage chairs we sit in are just a bit too narrow to sit comfortably. They were probably designed more for Chinese passengers. Time passes slowly. At 1:30 p.

Fiji - Arrival above Auckland

m., I join the line again to board my second flight. After the first flight and the wait at the airport, I am already quite tired. After the meal, I fall asleep quickly. I never get into a deep sleep in an airplane seat, but I do manage to catch a few hours. Meanwhile, the plane passes over Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. We fly just over the northwest of Australia. As the plane begins its descent toward New Zealand, the orange morning glow of the sun appears on the horizon—a warm welcome.