Sarai may see NZ family miss Fiji wedding soiree
A gift to welcome Debbie Punnett’s future daughter-in-law is sitting in its box in Palmerston North and it may not make it to the big day.
The mother should be on her way to Fiji with the gift as well as her husband and two sons for her eldest boy’s wedding.
But it’s now a strong possibility they may not make it to the Pacific Island to see Scott Sutherland and Jacqui Becker say ‘‘I do’’.
Air New Zealand cancelled their flight yesterday due to Tropical Cyclone Sarai, which started off the coast of Fiji on Friday and quickly grew to a category two storm that grounded planes and led to holidaymakers hunkering down.
The Punnetts’ wedding is scheduled for Wednesday at the Outrigger Resort.
Punnett’s sons Mathew and Nick Punnett are part of the bridal party, while husband Stephen is supposed to be photographing the day.
Through tears, Punnett said it had been frustrating trying to find a way to get to Fiji for the big day.
‘‘As a mum, we tell our kids when things go wrong ‘don’t worry everything is going to work out’, but it’s really hard to take my own advice at the moment. I just don’t want to miss my son’s wedding.’’
Yesterday, the Fiji Meteorological Service said galeforce wind warnings remained in place, with winds expected to reach up to 220kmh in some places today. There are also flood warnings in place for low lying areas.
The bride and groom, who live in Brisbane, had their original flight cancelled but managed to get seats on a flight tonight.
The wedding had been planned for more than a year but Sutherland and Becker had offered to postpone the wedding, Punnett said.
‘‘Scott phoned me last night and said ‘mum we will just postpone it’ and, as a mum, what do you say? I told him that the two most important people at the wedding are yourselves and anyone else is a bonus.’’
There are guests travelling from Christchurch who have been lucky enough to get on other flights. Everyone else is travelling from Australia.
Punnett said she knew they were at the mercy of the weather and were looking at other ways of getting there but last-minute flights were not cheap.
‘‘We’ve got travel insurance through our credit card but we can’t get hold of them.
‘‘For us to say ‘OK, let’s just book another avenue’, we can’t guarantee with our travel insurance we would be reimbursed at an already really expensive time of year.’’
Punnett said Air New Zealand had been fantastic and was doing its best to get the family to Fiji.
‘‘The thought [of missing the wedding] breaks my heart. As a mum you want to be there for those special days.’’
‘As a mum you want to be there for those special days.’ DEBBIE PUNNETT