Despite being long (around 30 hours of flying time over 42 hours of travel time), the trip to Johannesburg was comfortable. A shower, dinner and drinks at the Hong Kong airport made that five-hour stopover enjoyable. (On the return trip, we’ll have time to go into the city when we land in Hong Kong.) I slept for 11 of the 12 hours between Hong Kong and Johannesburg.
We arrived in Johannesburg around 6:30am and got through the airport quickly, though without my checked bag. It got lost along the way, but was delivered to me the next morning with everything in good condition.
It took at least four days to get over the worst of the jet lag, but we had a great host in Johannesburg who made the transition very comfortable.