Sunshine Coast teenager Lachie Smart arrived in Pago Pago, American Samoa, yesterday at the end of the second leg of his solo flight around the world.
Smart left Sunshine Coast Airport in Cirrus SR22 VH-IBC at 0400 on Monday morning with around 200 people waving him off.
He reached his first destination, Nadi in Fiji, later on Monday after cruising at 9000 across the south-west Pacific.
"It went pretty well overall," Smart said of his first leg. "There were some ups and downs as you'd expect, But I definitely learnt from it.
"The HF radio system isn’t known for being extremely reliable and at a couple stages throughout the flight I actually had to relay messages to Nadi through some jets flying above me. The aviation community always looks out for each other and it’s a great thing to be part of.
"Upon reaching Nadi I descended through a layer of cloud and popped out underneath to some breathtaking scenery of the outlying islands.
"After successfully placing the cirrus onto the runway and taxiing in to my handler in Fiji, Sunflower Aviation, the conclusion to a successful first leg of the journey had arrived."
After a day off in Nadi, Smart completed the relatively short leg to American Samoa on Wednesday.
From there, Lachie flies on to Christmas Island in Kiribati and Hilo in Hawaii before tackling the long, arduous leg to Hollister in California to complete his Pacific crossing.
Follow Lachie's progress on the Wings Around the World website.