Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston
ISLANDS in the Yasawa Group, strung out beneath the small aircraft, like green and brown beads on blue velvet.
Brown where first the drought, and then Cyclone Bob's scorching speeds, had seared the mountain sides.
The view was astounding from the light aircraft used by the Minister of Finance, Charles Stinson, and piloted by the Australian Trade Commissioner, Sill McCabe.
The trip to the Yasawa Island was recorded in The Fiji Times of January 8, 1978.
The duo took off on the threehour reconnaissance flight from Nausori airport at 2pm, in 15 to 20 knot winds.
Turbulence over Tamavua ridge gave them a taste of what was to come in the Yasawas, where winds were only just dropping below gale force.
Swinging away from the coast, they bucked and swooped on the Mamanuca islands.
Then the rough stuff really started.
Cutting back on speed and height, the passengers were at the mercy of the buffeting winds as they boiled down the hillsides.
They were able to cut in around the bay to take a close look at the villages on Malololevu.
People below had already begun clearing up and even some repairs.
A group of men looked up from their work of re-roofing a bure as the plane swept overhead.
Several other bure were beyond repairs, they were literally flattened.
At close quarters the sea showed its fury.
Spray was leaping towards the plane as waves crashed about a mid-ocean reef.
But almost incredibly, there was a tourist boat heading for one of the resort islands with a load of people on board.
Another light plane was bringing a load of holiday-makers to Malololailai, where some of the seafront buildings were still wearing their hurricane shutters.
At Mana the village had suffered considerable damage.
They counted at least three bure down, and several more with their roofs missing.
It was hard to get an accurate count while being shaken around like peas in a tin can.
On to the Yasawa islands, the vegetation was noticeably more burnt and browned.
At Tavua Island, most of the wooden houses laid out in neat rows around the rara looked as if they had stood up well to the winds.
But several bure had suffered and lay in untidy heaps on the sea front.
The story repeated itself on Waya, Wayalailai and Naviti. Majority of houses seemed from the air to have survived relatively well, with only minor damage if any. But in every village, one or two untidy heaps of thatch told a sad tale.
Food crops, reported to be severely damaged, could not be assessed from the air.
Strong winds prevented the plane from going too low between the looking hills, some still with rain clouds clinging to their peaks.
Strangely the coconut trees seem to have stood up well to the force of Cyclone Bob.
A few trees down along the beaches, and a small grove was criss-crossed with fallen trunks, but most were still standing and still had fronds to wave in the wind.
At Yaqeta several bure were down and others de-roofed.
■ THE FIJI TIMES
THE latest thing in the duty free trade is the special "Customs knot", we hear. First the tourists were being asked for "beer money" for specially wrapped parcels which the Customs officers would not fuss over. Now they are being told to add a "few extra
dollars'' to the total purchase price if they want a special "Customs
knot'' tied over their parcels. The tourists are told that Customs officers will not bother them if they see the special knot, our sources say.
■ THE FIJI TIMES