Today started out as a normal day except that it was still raining from the night before. As it is Saturday, we opted for a short lie in and decided to forfeit the stroll along the beach even though the rain was warm rain. A leisurely stroll down to the dining area was rewarded by another buffet breakfast. Obviously no birthdays or anniversaries today, as there were no choristers.
Having accumulated some dirty washing, we decided to visit the laundry armed with our newly acquired cold water washing powder. Just as we were going through the door, the phone rang and changed the day. It was a call from the local agent Rosie to say that the road between the hotel and Nadi, where the airport is, may be flooded later in the day and as we were scheduled to be collected at 04.00 on Sunday morning, they could not guarantee that we would make the airport.
The choice was to either sit it out and hope that the road doesn’t flood or transfer to Nadi at lunch time and check into a hotel at our own expense and claim it back from our travel insurance. I guess at times like this you have to bow to local knowledge and trust that this is not a clever ploy to extract some of your hard earned again. It was far too much of a risk not to catch the flight to Christchurch, so we opted for an early transfer.
At 1.00pm a Rosie bus appeared at the front of the hotel and with it was the driver who bought us from Nadi two days earlier!! However, we must have been in an unconverted vehicle (see earlier posting) as the ride back was, by his standard, quite sedate. Some of the rivers were high, but still way below the level of the roads, until we got to the outskirts of Nadi. In one place the river was just spilling out onto the road, but the rain had pretty much stopped. Did we make the right decision? We’ll never know! We were heading for the Raffles Hotel at Nadi airport, which conjures up a vision of that wonderful hotel in Singapore. However, having both been to Raffles in Singapore, the name is where the similarity ends. OK it’s a clean, and tidy hotel and it’s bang opposite the entrance to Nadi airport, literally 20 yards away. The plus side is that we get a lie in until 05.00, the downside is that in the room is a jumbo size aerosol of cockroach killer!!! No sign of any yet, but then again the lights are still on.
We have just had a very passable curry for dinner and intend to retire early, ready for the 08.00 to Christchurch. There has been a tropical storm around for the last few days and it’s just been confirmed as turning into a Cyclone, which should pass to the SW of Fiji during Sat evening and Sunday. Hopefully, the flight will not be affected by it.
One of the great things about Fiji, is that almost everyone walks around with a smile on their face and even strangers in the street will offer their traditional Bula (Hello) as they walk past. Everyone is polite and courteous and they just seem to be permanently happy. That’s really quite strange as it’s a very poor country and a number of people in Sigatoka were walking around with no shoes on their feet. They seem very professional at smiling in the face of adversity – perhaps there are lessons to be learned.
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