Hi All,
I dont know if any of you have been keeping up with the current situation in Fiji, but we have just returned home and can assure you the Australian press coverage does not even go close to painting a picture of the situation.
For the villagers, the devestation is everywhere and the rebuilding will no doubt be a long effort, with another depression hitting now.
From a tourist perspective, the only word to describe it is Mayhem. We needed a military escort to get accross flood waters, the terminal in Nadi is at boiling point, with people bribing check in staff for spots on stand by lists (I saw a couple rebuy their seats, another pay $500 and a family of 5 who missed check in charged F$2500 to get the seats they had already paid for, only in cash, not credit). There was only 4 flights to Australia on the Monday we escaped, FJ911 to Sydney, one FJ flight to OOL and 2 Pacific Blue flights to Brisvegas. On our flight (911) there were 173 passengers on standby, 68 seats allocated.
While my wife and I are very happy to be home, my thoughts are certainly with those trapped behind.