Flying through China on a trip to Australia. It’s fairly amazing the extent to which our surfing passion takes us to experience the extraordinary.

Ended up finding a very cheap ticket with Southern China that took me through Wuhan, a place I was at odds identifying on the map in first place. Let’s say that it’s somewhere forgotten in the middle of this huge continent. From there next stop is Guangzhou – formerly known as Canton – and from there next hop is Perth.

First impression with China was boarding the plane. A lady was in my seat (all the way to the back .. next to that there was the rear exit). The hostess firmly asked the lady to move. I offered to swap seats but the crew member denied the lady the opportunity.

Most interesting was my oversize experience with Southern China Air. I opted for SCA because the ticket was dirt cheap and – apparently – they offered a good deal for the surfboards. The story as typical changed at check-in. The info I was given by my travel agent appeared to be sketchy at least and the amount due quickly grew to become almost as much as the ticket itself. My attempt to negotiate on the basis I had been ill informed encountered but the strictest reaction by the ground personnel. TBC