RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 8 – Nadi (NAN) to Auckland (AKL)

By Nige on January 25, 2026 at 11:00 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: AKL | Auckland | Fiji Airways | FJ | Nadi | NAN

Premium Check-in was completely empty when I reached the departures hall, and the agent processed everything without delay. She also checked me in for my onward flights to Hong Kong and Denpasar, which was reassuring.

Security was straightforward, and Border Control was equally painless. Let’s face it — they weren’t exactly going to be overly concerned about letting little old me leave the country.

I’d been directed towards the Fiji Airways Premium Lounge on the ground floor, alongside the Air New Zealand lounge. While it wasn’t especially large, it was well laid out and clearly thoughtfully designed.

There was a decent selection of food and a smart bar area, and I found a generously sized, comfortable chair where I could relax for a couple of hours.

My flight to Auckland was departing from Gate 4, and the boarding process turned out to be slightly unusual. I’d been assigned to Zone A, though I had no idea what that actually meant.

Boarding initially began with a call for Zone D. A large group of passengers queued up, but I was asked to wait off to one side. They had clearly not received the memo either.

Eventually, a general call was made for Business Class passengers, with no further reference to zones at all — which only added to the confusion. Still, before long I was on board and settled into seat 01F.

The Business Class cabin was tiny: just two rows in a 2-2 configuration, with only five passengers in total. I had the seat next to me free, which made things even more comfortable.

Taxiing out was surprisingly dark. Normally, airfields are dotted with illuminated maintenance buildings, but here there was just a single Fiji Airways maintenance hangar near the terminal.

The dinner menu looked promising. I started with the potato and turmeric soup, which was genuinely lovely — Vick would have been pleased to know I was getting my turmeric intake.

For the main course, I chose the chicken sriracha with rice, though it turned out to be disappointingly bland.

Dessert was another sorbet — this time pineapple — which was excellent. Not quite as spectacular as the night before, but not far off.

Fiji Airways offered complimentary internet access for Business Class passengers, distributing coupon codes shortly after take-off so that everyone could register and connect.

Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts, the Wi-Fi simply never worked for me. My phone sat on the armrest displaying a large, unambiguous message stating “Internet is not currently available”.

Each time the crew passed by, they reassured me that the service was being restarted, but as far as I could tell, it remained unavailable for the entire flight.

Still, credit where it’s due: unlike BA, Fiji Airways wasn’t attempting to charge passengers for something that clearly didn’t work. Since it was offered free of charge, there was at least no need to think about refunds.

We arrived at Gate 15 in Terminal 1 slightly ahead of schedule, despite having to pause briefly to allow another aircraft to complete its manoeuvre into the adjacent stand. It looked as though the delay was caused by the crew waiting for stand guidance to be activated — which rather reminded me of similar shenanigans back at Heathrow.

Once parked, we then waited an age for the airbridge to be attached. Either staff hadn’t realised we’d arrived, or they were simply short-handed. Either way, it must have been a good fifteen minutes before the door was finally opened.

Getting landside proved to be the most thorough arrival process I’d encountered so far. Immigration came first.

UK passport holders were permitted to use the e-gates, though for reasons known only to the system, it didn’t like me. I was directed to the manual desks instead — thankfully with no queue at that time of night.

The Border Control officer gave me a fairly intense grilling. I started with a broad smile — usually a good ice-breaker — but it had little effect here. She remained impressively stern.

It felt like Mastermind: (a) Where had I come from? (b) Where was I going? (c) Which countries had I transited through? (d) Why was I only staying one night in Auckland? (e) Where had I stayed in Fiji? (f) Why was I staying two nights in Indonesia? (g) Why wasn’t I spending more time in any of these places? (h) Was I seriously doing this?

By the time she handed my passport back, she was trying — not entirely successfully — to suppress a smirk. I suspect she was either amused, mildly impressed, or simply bored of my very detailed explanation. Either way, I was through the first checkpoint.

Next came the initial biosecurity screening, involving another passport check and a thorough sniff from a dog on a leash. You can’t help but smile.

That was followed by a second biosecurity checkpoint, where an officer stuck an EL sticker on the back of my passport and instructed me to use the Express Lane once I’d collected my bag.

By this point, fatigue was starting to bite. I eventually made it out of the terminal and followed Google Maps to the ibis Budget Hotel, around a fifteen-minute walk away.

As soon as I opened the door to room 536, I understood exactly why Budget featured so prominently in the hotel’s name. I don’t think I’d ever stayed in a room quite that small.

Still, it didn’t take long to unpack, grab a shower, catch up with the Vickster, and finally climb into bed.

Next up: A gallery of photos from Day 8 of my Round The World trip of a lifetime.

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Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026