A Dunedin couple with four children, stranded in flood-stricken Fiji, have spent a harrowing couple of days crossing the island in an attempt to leave the country.
A state of emergency has been declared in Fiji where at least seven people have died and more than 9000 have been forced out of their homes after days of torrential rain.
Nick and Trish Giblin, their three children and their friend were supposed to leave the soaked country early yesterday morning.
However, the deluge saw their flight cancelled and their attempts to get across the main island of Viti Levu thwarted, Mrs Giblin told NZPA.
The family had been staying on outer island Nananu-I-Ra for about a month when the storm hit. They were able to make it back to the Nadi on Friday when there was a lull in the weather.
But their taxi trip to one of the main towns, Ba, had to be abandoned due to the high floodwaters.
The family and four others were forced to stay the night at the taxi driver's house.
On Saturday they almost made it to Ba, but had to wait for five hours next to a raging river.
"There were no police, no army, there was absolutely no one who offered help or advice to the 40 cars waiting with us," Mrs Giblin said.
She said after a back road was cleared they were able to reach Ba 3km away but it still took about 40 minutes and three tows by a 4WD.
She said they arrived to "a terrible mess".
"People were standing outside their shops with all their products covered in mud. It looked very sad really."
Locals had told her it was the biggest flood to hit the island in living memory.
The family were now waiting for flights to leave Fiji.
Since the storm hit last week, power and telephone lines had been cut, drinking water was limited and hundreds of holidaymakers stranded. The main towns of Nadi, Rakiraki and Ba were swamped after being pelted by more than 200mm of rain since Friday. The weather was not expected to significantly improve until for another two days.
House of Travel spokesman Brent Thomas told the New Zealand Herald that 600 New Zealanders were currently in Fiji and stuck in their resorts. A further 500 were expected to visit Fiji this week.
"Although this is traditionally a low season for Fiji tourism because of the rain, quite a few New Zealanders were still on the New Year holiday," he said.
"Until the weather pattern changes on the island, nothing is happening - they are stuck in their resorts."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the High Commission in Fiji has had no reports of New Zealanders needing assistance.
The New Zealand Government said the political situation in Fiji would not affect its decision to send aid, if the country needed it.
