This entry in the blog is based mainly on Rose and my experiences and I can write about it now that she is well again.
Our sail from Tonga to Fiji we were blessed with the wind from behind and relatively calm seas. With 280miles to cover it was going to be a 2 night passage, and the first with just us, the family. Craig and I took turns with watches 2 hours on / 2 hours off throughout the night. It was an uneventful sail for us with Olivia a bit seas sick, and we arrived in Fiji (Vanua Balavu) at 10am to join up with the rest of the fleet who were ahead of us.
As planned, the customs and immigration officials were flown from Suva to enable clearance in the Lau Group, which is where all of the cool stuff begins. Vanau Balavu lies on the eastern side, about 180 miles from Suva and 'mainland' Fiji. After visits onboard from the various officials, we were all cleared in and passports stamped by early in the afternoon. This is where things went pear shaped in a major way...
We will have two different experiences of our start to the Fiji adventure as Rose and I had to leave Craig, Grace and Olivia and take an unexpected trip to Suva. As such I did not get to experience the beauty of the Lau Group.
It all began with Rose not being her usual bubbly self once we arrived. She generally has a strong stomach for travelling at sea but had vomited a few times, and ended up sleeping for a better part of the day as we landed in Fiji. Around 5pm she began complaining of a sore tummy and was running a bit of a temperature. I thought it was just a virus however as a precaution we went to see the local doctor who took a scan and suspected that she had appendicitis. They kept Rose (and myself) overnight in the island hospital for observation. Her condition started deteriorating and at that time we felt about as far away from help something that we would not wish on anyone. As the morning went on, and the doctor made the call and an emergency evacuation was called.
Rose and I were sent off on a chartered flight to Suva. We travelled for an hour on a little 8 seat plane accompanied by the doctor who came from Suva to monitor Rose's condition. Upon landing we were met on the runway by the ambulance and police escort to transport us straight to the hospital where the surgeon saw Rose and confirmed as suspected that it was her appendix. Little Rose was prepared for surgery that very night. She looked so tiny on the surgical table, and I might add here throughout all of this Rose has been such a brave and strong little girl. I am so very proud of her. She had her appendix removed at midnight and her appendix had ruptured. Luckily the infection was isolated to the area surrounding her appendix and had not spread throughout her abdominal cavity. We were so lucky her appendix was removed at this time. It could have gone very very bad if left another day. We were returned to the ward in the early hours (I think around 3am) where she rested and I spend the next 2hrs curled up on the floor beside her with my bag for a pillow and a vest for a blanket. It was a very long and exhausting night.
Throughout all of this, Sonia managed to track me down in the hospital in Suva and was my support in Australia, keeping the family up to date with how Rose was going which was so amazing.
We have had 6 days in the hospital here in Suva with Rose on intravenous antibiotics. This is a little longer than they would normally keep patients with appendicitis but as her appendix had ruptured they wanted to closely monitor and give the antibiotics for an extra couple of days. I have to say we have had the best possible care. We planned to move across to the private hospital after the surgery, however the private does not have the specialist care for children, so it was the public CWM Hospital with the local Fijians where we have stayed. We were in the children's ward where there are nurses and doctors on staff at all times. I have been overwhelmed by the help and support I have received from complete strangers (both staff and other parents / carers). All parents staying with their children in the hospital have been so helpful and caring to both myself and Rose, providing me with food, and a little local assistance. I also had support from the Australian Consulate who provided us with fresh fruit, pillows and blankets for my stay with Rose in the hospital.
Fijians would have to be the friendliest and caring people on earth.
Craig, Grace and Olivia spent a lovely couple of days with the rally in the Lau group once they knew Rose and I were well cared for. The Lau Group is a beautiful part of Fiji and a wonderful introduction to what we can expect in the Fiji islands. They sailed through the Bay of Islands and enjoyed a Fijian feast run by a local village for the Rally.
The ICA group have also been amazing in supporting Craig and the girls while I stayed with Rose. He has been spoilt with food, water and kindness from the fleet. Craig had some assistance with additional crew Eli, Dean and Graham to help with sailing Nika to Suva so Craig would be with us. We are now parked in the marina at the Royal Suva Yacht Club with access to power, water and all the facilities we could possibly need.
Rose has now been discharged from hospital and is recovering well. She understandably still very tender and we will be taking it pretty easy for the next 7 days until she has her review with the doctor and has her stiches out next Wednesday.
While here in Suva we plan to get a bit of maintenance done on the boat, stock up on provisions and catch up on some washing. Hopefully we will do a bit of sight-seeing too.
We will join up again with the Rally late next week in Savusavu to pick up and continue where we left off.