DAY 2
Week 1
PACIFIC PARADISE (Queensland, AUS) to PACIFIC HARBOUR (Serua, FJI)
via BRISBANE (Queensland, AUS) & NADI (Ba, FJI)
Saturday October 8th, 2011
TODAYS MILEAGE – 1842 miles or 2964 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 2604 miles or 4191 kilometres
How in browns cows did we manage to pick a 5AM start for a holiday??? 
We were up at 4AM to grab a couple of quick showers, some coffee and then pack the rental car with all the gear we'd need for the next week or so. We were on the road by 5AM and thankfully had very little traffic in the hour and a bit it took to get to the Brisbane International Airport.
Call me silly, but when Hertz said on their "courtesy" phone to "leave the keys in the drop box and we’ll check the vehicle later for damage" - I was having none of that. It took about ½ and hour to finally get someone to come down to inspect the vehicle, have the contract signed off as having no damage on the vehicle and for me to hand over the keys. That’s a whole lot better than fighting with them over damages from a different state or country.
We fronted Virgin Australia’s check-in counter 3 hours prior to departure and in being the first in line for the flight, we were able to snag exit row seats on the way over .... sweet.
Dark brooding grey skies and alternating drizzling rain and heavy thunder squalls met us at Nadi International Airport which wasn't a major concern, as we were staying at The Pearl South Pacific Resort about 2 hours east of Nadi.
Of more concern to both of us was the driver of our transfer vehicle, the guy was just a lunatic on the road. His driving - for want of a better word, got to the point that we made him stop at Sigatoka, so that we could gather some adult beverages and happy hour fixin's. I used this as the opportune time to pull the driver aside and made mention that I was willing to throw him out of the vehicle if he did not slow down and drive to the conditions. Needless to say, I can be pretty persuasive at times as the second half of the transfer was at a much more relaxed and sedated pace - thankfully.
Don't think it even crossed our minds that the days travel may have started and ended in complete darkness, but watching the lightning show from our 2nd floor balcony, overlooking the Pacific Ocean with an adult beverage and good company certainly made for a great ending to a long day.
• NADI ~ International Airport (Ba, FJI)
• SIGATOKA ~ Markets (Nadroga-Navosa, FJI)
Here's a breakdown of the travel times and distances in getting over there:
∗ Pacific Paradise (Queensland, AUS) to BRISBANE ~ International Airport (Queensland, AUS)
66 miles or 106 kilometres
• Travel Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
∗ BRISBANE ~ International Airport (Queensland, AUS) to NADI ~ International Airport (Ba, FJI)
1686 miles or 2713 kilometres
• Flight Time: 3 hour 42 minutes
90 miles or 145 kilometres
• Travel Time: 2 hours 2 minutes