Since the last post we have had a few changes of itinerary, but are now staying in Fiji for a little longer.

We awoke on our last planned day in Nadi to floods in the towns and peoples rooms. The hostel and hotel now had no water or electricity. The toilets were all blocked up, so it was getting a bit stinky too. Food was also going short so for breakfast we had the cold leftovers from the previous day!

We quickly checked out and found a taxi driver who thought the road to Denarau, the location of our next hotel, was clear and agreed to take us. On the way he showed us his house and how high the water had been on many of the houses in his village. As we carried on driving we passed areas where children were wading up to their waists in water off the road carrying planks of wood and people were trying to sweep water out of their houses and all their belongings were on the roof or side of the road. It was really sad to see the devastation already with so much more rain predicted. The driver said some of these people spent the previous day on their roof as the water levels were so high.

As we reached a small town, buses were all parked up or were turning around and the police directing people. As the tide had started to come in, it had met the river and flooded the road. Our taxi driver considered taking us, but thought he may get stuck on the other side as the tide continued to get higher and instead decided to turn around and said he would try bringing us later. The locals and unofficial looking police told us to keep going, but our driver told us to ignore them as they just wanted us to get stuck so we would have to use their trucks to pull us out and make some money. So, the taxi driver turned around before shouting to a 4x4 driver to see if he could take us! We were quickly pulled out and swapped to a bigger car to get us through the worst area of flooding. Denarau is part of the mainland but only accessible by one road over a river. When this floods the area is essentially an island and everyone on it becomes stranded! But we made it to the Radisson blu which is very beautiful. As we came up the steps, our bags were taken off us and the guests came to see how and where we had come from. The manager came and welcomed us too and said the hadn't seen new faces for a few days and had all been cooped up together. But compared to where we had come from we had bags of space here! We were upgraded and shown to our room which is so nice, we were put in an apartment with a balcony overlooking the gardens and pool and the staff couldn't do enough for us. The managers recognise you and come and chat to everyone daily. The hotel gives a few updates a day on the weather and flight statuses which is good to be kept in the know.
At this point the airport was shut and the road was getting more flooded by the minute so people were stuck. The hotel had had to downgrade its services by shutting all of its restaurants and instead serving a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner in the function room as staff hadn't been able to get to work, or the eateries by the sea had been washed out. But, compared to what we had lived in, we were in paradise and went straight for a swim in the rain. The weather is still really warm so it was a nice dip. With all the flights being cancelled and backing up, we decided to extend our stay in the hotel, then if the weather picked up, go to the Coral coast on Wednesday as planned. This meant we had to alter our flight again and we changed it to the following Tuesday, so we will have another night in Auckland before our flight home.
We are just enjoying all the space in this hotel and the free wifi! The area is home to a few nice hotels but apparently even they have lost their electricity and Internet so we were glad to be where we were.

That night we lay in bed just watching the storm outside. It was blowing a real gale and the trees were taking a beating. The lightening was lighting up the entire sky and our room! It was really impressive to watch, although we may be English, we have never seen rain like it!

After a big lie in, the next day the situation had been labelled officially as a natural disaster and the country in a state of emergency. The tropical storm had been upgraded to cyclone category with the worst expected to hit that night.

The road out of Denarau had been washed away and Nadi was reportedly under 1.8m of water with five people known to have died. Also, the road we were meant to take to our next destination on the Coral coast contained a bridge that had been washed out. People were taking helicopters out of the hotels to get to the airport, but the flights were all grounded and apparently the airport had no water, but people were desperate to get on the first available flight. A lot of people were critising the chopper companies for pocketing tourists money rather than helping their own people, but I guess it is to be expected. The hotel water supply had been contaminated with the overflowing flood waters, making it undrinkable and the tank was only at 60% capacity now so we have been asked to be conservative with our water usage.

While it poured outside, Jade and Ruth made use of the free on-demand movies, while Sally and I used the fitness centre and had a dip in the pool. While we were using the Internet later in the lobby, we chatted to a lot of people who would ask how long we've been here and how long they have been stuck for. People make it sound like they are in prison! But we have it so good here! For this reason, we have decided to stay on at Denarau rather than trying to move and will be here for the rest of our stay in Fiji. We thought it may be safer than trying to move somewhere that may not be doing so well. Most people were enjoying the prolonged happy hour and are pretty merry!

The following day when the cyclone was expected to have hit, we awoke to some unexpected sunshine. Cyclone Daphne had changed direction and hit well off the coast. The surrounding and following rain was due to come for the next 48hours but it seems we are over the worst. We made the most of the sun and pools in the hot weather and took a walk around the whole resort. The rain came when it was expected and is still really heavy. I hope it does subside soon so the villages can start getting back on track. The hotel is starting to resume normal services opening all it's restaraunts and entertainment. Currently as I write this, there is a performer playing some local music. It is starting to feel more like a holiday! As the rain continued, we settled down and watched 'The Iron Lady'.

Today we had some glimpses of sun this morning before the rain started again. It is expected to clear by the end of the week so hopefully we may still have the end to the trip that we expected. We aren't doing too bad really living in 5 star luxury and it has been an eye opener seeing the flooding first hand. I hope the Fijians can get back on their feet soon.

Amy. x