ddlo1982

This is good info. Did you need to take your check in luggage or it is still check thru to your final dest? Did you tell the airlines that you will be leaving the airport? From all my research online so far, all stated if you are leaving the airport, you will need to take the luggage out and re-check them, which the check in counter closes 1 hr before departure.
I have a 5 hour layover to SYD as well, and dont' really want to stay in the transit area. But I don't want to take the luggage out either. I understand they have a place you can put your luggage there, but that will add to the time i need to line up and so on. It's kinda a hard decision based on the info I found online. Most of the post even say that you are not even allow to leave if it's <6 hrs.

Thanks a lot.

Mwenenzi

Are your FJ XXX-NAN & NAN-SYD flights on 1 ticket or 2 separate tickets?
If 1 ticket checked baggage will be through checked to SYD. FJ may even through check on separate tickets.
If going landside for a short time on a transit most people would not advise the airline at check-in. Going through a border can have extra government fees (No idea if Fiji has this)

5:00 hrs between schedule arrival & scheduled departure is not many effective hours

CPMaverick

If you are flying I->I on a single ticket (sounds like you are if you are flying LAX-NAN-SYD), then your luggage should be checked through. You do not pick it up at NAN and it will not arrive at the baggage claim. You can verify this when you check your luggage, just ask the person if you will need to see it before SYD or not.

I've never heard of this changing because you've entered the transit country via immigration or left the airport. It should have no impact. You can decide to go through immigration and exit the airport and your luggage won't be affected.

Immigration may question you about entering the country on a short transit. It is a bit of a red flag; drug couriers for example don't need to stay long. But you should be fine as long as you are honest and have nothing to hide.

As far as 'not being allowed' to leave the airport, I know of no such regulation in any country. As long as you are eligible to enter the country (visa or passport not requiring one), you should be able to enter. Sometimes there are extra costs involved (as arriving passengers pay a tax), but this is unusual. If you have a really short layover (maybe 2 hours or less) and immigration doesn't believe you have time to exit, or it makes them suspicious that you aren't planning to take your onward flight, you may be detained or denied... but this is not a rule, just at their discretion.

Cliffs notes, you should have no issues in my opinion