Part One: Transit in Santiago, Chile

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Day Two

Qantas Flight 043 was late to depart Sydney. There had been a fire alarm incident at the Qantas Catering Division and this had led to a delay in getting the in-flight meals on board the plane. When the plane to Auckland finally left Sydney 2 hours late, I started to think that I might miss my onward connection to Santiago de Chile. I voiced my concern to cabin crew who confirmed that, indeed, there was a problem. It seemed my flight out of Auckland would be leaving 15 minutes before this flight touched the ground.
                            

While the plane descended into New Zealand airspace, five other passengers and myself were strategically moved to First Class. Apparently the departure of our onward carrier Lan Chile flight 321 was being held up so we could board. This was the good news. The bad news was that since there was no time to transfer them, our checked luggage would continue on to Los Angeles.

The cabin door opened, and on cue we leapt out, sprinted to our next boarding gate, and ran down the 'tunnel' to our waiting plane. The cabin door slammed behind us, and suddenly we were off again. My two-minute sojourn in New Zealand was over, and I was left to wonder at the consequences of having no clothes for the duration of my tour. At least I would have plenty of time to think about it. Our trans-Pacific flight would touch down in Santiago de Chile after a tedious 12 hour flight.

Technically it was still day two, at least according to the calendar. Although night had fallen in Australia, it remained daylight for the rest of the flight. My body clock was trying to tell me otherwise. Towards the end of the very long flight, cabin staff happily informed me that my luggage had actually been taken off in Auckland, and it would join me in Santiago de Chile on Monday morning. Oops – another drama – I would be flying out of Chile on the Sunday morning.

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