We returned to Fiji 3 days late. The flood waters around Nadi had receded and the airport finally re-opened for inbound flights on Tuesday. Fiji was hit by a tremendous low pressure system that for several days had brought heavy rainfall and almost decimated Nadi town. The two rivers that frame this busy western district hub had merged from the immense amount of rain that fell during a 48 hour period. Today was the first real sunshine Nadi had seen since the great flood. As we drove around Nadi to provision Sea Child, we witnessed first hand the height of the flood waters and the extent of the damage everywhere. Homes had beds, couches, clothes and anything else they could manage to hoist up on their rooftops drying out. We saw trees in front of lawns that obviously came from upriver. We saw flood lines on plate glass windows, 4' above ground level. We saw mud, so much mud, covering front yards where groomed lawns once prospered. All along the chain link fences we witnessed the enormous amount of debris that clung to the fences in the raging flood waters.
Seeing these images, the mud caked streets of downtown Nadi, the pump trucks parked randomly sucking river water to be used later to hose down the mud-caked landscape elsewhere, was overwhelming. Large trucks parked along the river, sucking out water to hose their giant tires of mud. The group of men gathered around a large yard of heavy equipment, bull dozers and scrapers and backhoes, all idle as they, too, were caught in the flood.
Ali, our wonderful driver with a working air conditioner, told tales as he drove us around Nadi. He told us how the local people had a week of announcements warning of the rains that were coming to the western division of Fiji. And the locals did respond to the warning, to a point. The worst flooding hit on Sunday, April 1, causing a few deaths in the division. The local people just did not know how much rain would actually fall, catching some people by suprise.
The most amazing part of our drive around Nadi was the upbeat spirit of the local people. All along the route, we heard several "bula bula" coming from the local people on the street corners. The smiles on the faces of the men who lined the streets, waiting their turn at the ANZ Bank ATM machines. The wonderful spirit of the Fijians working together to restore their world, greeting each other as they crowd into an open market, surely sharing stories with each other about the flood damage. The smiles, the good nature of these people, who experience such devastation and yet remember that things can be replaced or fixed. Their fellow neighbors, however, are more precious than anything.
As we returned to Sea Child after collecting provisions around Nadi, I could almost see her smile along her waterlines. Sea Child was coming back to life and gearing up for the Easter weekend at Musket Cove. Given that so much rain had fallen just a few days ago, and that January had a similar system go through the area, Sea Child looks fantastic. We had hired a local couple to keep the mold away and wash all gear and canvas covers. They did a fantastic job, and Sea Child has never been so clean. This was money well spent, to have a caretaker keep out the mildew and check all systems while we were away.
The sun shines again today, Good Friday. And it really is a good Friday to be in Fiji. We feel truly blessed.
