Day 2 – July 20/21,
2014 – Pacific Ocean to Perth, Australia – Distance travelled: about 15,000 kms - Nadi, Fiji: 22oC; Sydney: 20oC; Perth 12oC. Fiji Airways turned out to be a very nice
airline, with friendly flight attendants, a well-equipped plane (personal
entertainment systems) and well-catered.
Everybody got some sleep and all was fine until about nine hours into
our flight. When Shannon got up to go to
the bathroom she fainted in the aisle.
Help was right there in the form of another passenger and flight
attendants, and fortunately there was even a (British) doctor on board. He checked her vital signs and helped her
back to her seat where she continued to feel unwell. The doctor got her to lie down first on the
floor somewhere, further checking her vital signs with the limited equipment
that was on board, and after that we found Shannon a place in an empty business
class seat where the seats pretty much convert into a bed. She was feeling rather sick by now – hot and
sick to the stomach -and threw up, following which she started to feel much
better. The doctor gave her a saline
drip just to help her feel better faster and once in Nadi, Fiji we were whisked
past security lineups by a lady from immigration who marched us over to a
doctor’s office. That doctor checked
Shannon’s vital signs again and declared her fit to travel (without that
declaration she would have had to stay in Fiji for 48 hours). In talking to Shannon and the doctor there
was good explanation why her blood pressure had been so low as to cause her to
become dizzy and faint (combination of high altitude and other factors) and
Shannon was feeling fine by now. The
immigration lady came back and got our checked luggage – which had been pulled
and put on hold – to be put onto our next plane and took the doctor’s letter
clearing Shannon to whomever needed it.
We then proceeded through more security and boarded our plane to
Sydney. A little excitement we could
have done without, but luckily it all turned out alright. In the four or so hours that we were in Fiji,
the country gave us a very friendly impression, with a trio playing Fijian
music as we walked into the arrival area from the plane. And talking about a
shortage of doctors; the doctor we saw is supposed to work from 4am to 10pm,
seven days per week. He wasn’t in until
around 6:30am but then who can work shifts like that?
After just under five hours we safely arrived in Sydney
where we picked up our luggage and rechecked it for the flight to Perth, hopped
on the Qantas shuttle bus to the domestic terminal, had a rather expensive Aus$71
lunch at Hungry Jack’s (Burger King equivalent) and waited for our flight to
Perth. After another five hours of
flying we landed in a very rainy Perth where we took a Maxi Taxi to our booked
cabin in a nearby caravan park. After
about 40 hours of travelling from our house to the cabin, we were more than
ready for a good night’s sleep.
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| Fiji Airport |
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| Approaching Sydney |
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