Off again on again

Declined dinner after a midnight take off and grabbed a few hours uneasy sleep in a seat where AIR NZ has - unusually - crammed too many into the cabin of the Boeing 777. Their Airbus 320s are almost more comfortable now they’ve done away with the sardine style seating layout. The irony of this whinge strikes me as soon as these words appear on the page. I will visit the International Slave Trade Museum in Liverpool, England when I get there on Monday. Realize I have no valid complaint about the discomforts of travel.

Just one stop from Auckland to London – and not in a holding pen at LAX this time. Hong Kong Airport is perfectly designed for stop over travelers wanting to stretch legs, grab a nap or shop til they drop.

But at 5.30am everything is closed - light just seeping through clouds and over the fringe of jaggy peaks that surround this familiar landscape.